Crews have dealt with some smoldering areas that sent up smoke within the Gifford Fire perimeter this week while they continue efforts to extinguish hot spots in the blaze.
The wildfire reached 95% containment this week and still has about 2,100 personnel assigned, including 29 hand crews.
Incident commanders have their eyes on the weather, with an extreme heat warning and red flag warning in effect through Saturday due to high temperatures and an “unstable air mass” in the area.
“All these factors combined will lead to an increase in fire weather and fire behavior,” according to Friday morning’s incident report. “There was a minor pile that ignited near the fire’s edge, on the northeast portion of the fire but was quickly extinguished by a dozer and hand crews. It did not add to the acreage of this fire.”
The Gifford Fire has burned 131,614 acres and the last recorded growth was a small amount on Wednesday, according to the progression map.
Any fire that starts this week has the potential to grow explosively, the National Weather Service warns.
The weather forecast also includes a small chance of thunderstorms on Saturday, and the concern of lightning strikes igniting new fires, according to the National Weather Service and Gifford Fire incident command.
The Gifford Fire started Aug. 1 and now that it has 95% containment, efforts have mostly moved away from fire suppression to recovery work, such as managing the landscape to prevent erosion during winter rains.
The NWS extreme heat warnings are in effect for most Santa Barbara County communities away from the coast, and the Santa Ynez Valley was expected to hit 98 degrees on Friday and 91 degrees on both weekend days.
Where the Gifford Fire is burning, including the Cuyama Valley, temperatures are expected to top 100 degrees on Friday and Saturday.
Santa Barbara County issued a health alert due to the extreme heat warning and offers tips to avoid heat-related illness.
Residents can find “cooling relief” at malls, movie theaters, parks, beaches, and local pools, the county said in its alert.
The Air Pollution Control District said moderate air quality conditions are expected across the county due to heat and stagnant conditions.
