A helicopter drops water on the Alisal Fire along Refugio Road near a cluster of homes Wednesday afternoon. 
An air tanker makes a retardant drop on the Alisal Fire near Gaviota on Wednesday. 
A hand crew working the west side of the Alisal Fire on Wednesday. 
Flames from the Alisal Fire burn on the Gaviota Coast Wednesday afternoon. 
Engines stage on the west side of the Alisal Fire on Wednesday for structure protection while a helicopter makes water drops in the background. 
Flames from the Alisal Fire burn east from Refugio Canyon. 
A water-dropping helicopter flies through the smoke from the Alisal Fire Wednesday. 
A tanker drops flame retardant on the Alisal Fire in Santa Barbara County Wednesday morning. 
Crews make repairs to burned guardrails and other infrastructure on Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast. 
A helicopter drops water on the Alisal Fire on the Gaviota Coast Wednesday afternoon. 
Crews make repairs to burned guardrails and other infrastructure on Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast. 
Engines stage at Circle Bar B for structure protection from the Alisal Fire on Tuesday. 
A helicopter dips down to get water for the Alisal Fire Tuesday. 
Flames from the Alisal Fire burn in upper Arroyo Hondo Canyon, north of the preserve trails and historic adobe. 
Firefighters hose down the hillside between Highway 101 and the beach near the Vista Point on the Gaviota Coast. 
Santa Barbara County Fire Hand Crew members fight fire with fire and burn off pockets of grass along northbound Highway 101 north of Arroyo Hondo Canyon. 
Smoke from the Alisal Fire fills the sky, seen from Reagan Ranch Tuesday. 
The Alisal Fire burned through Baron Canyon Tuesday. 
An aerial view of the Alisal Fire Tuesday morning. 
Air tankers get ready to leave the Santa Maria Airport tanker base and head to the Alisal Fire Tuesday evening. 
A loaded air tanker leaves the Santa Maria Airport for the Alisal Fire Tuesday evening. 
Santa Barbara County firefighters monitor the Alisal Fire. The blaze burned all the way from the ridgeline to the ocean in three hours on Monday. 
Flames and smoke from the Alisal Fire approach Highway 101, which was closed to vehicles on Monday afternoon. 
Flames and smoke from the Alisal Fire as seen from Tajiguas Canyon Monday afternoon. 
County firefighters monitor the Alisal Fire Monday night. 
County firefighters monitor the Alisal Fire Monday night.
The wind-driven Alisal Fire burning on the Gaviota Coast had blackened 15,500 acres as of Wednesday and flames stretched from the ridgeline of the Santa Ynez Mountains all the way to the ocean.
Smoke from the blaze could be seen from all over the region and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District issued an air quality watch this week.
Click through the gallery of Alisal Fire photos above by using the arrow on the right side of the photo.
You can share your fire photos with Noozhawk by emailing them to news@noozhawk.com and including caption information about the picture and a photo credit (who took it).
Click here for more information about fire-related evacuations, road closures, and air quality.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
