The Gifford Fire response will swell to 3,000 people Wednesday morning, and incident commanders are setting up additional base camps to reduce drive time for crews responding to the blaze. 

The blaze had burned 83,933 acres as of Tuesday night, and crews increased containment to 9%.

“Today was a better day overall,” said Dustan Mueller, incident commander of California Interagency Incident Management Team 5. 

“We’re making good progress in the north end of the fire and the south,” he said Tuesday night. “Our priorities as a team and Unified Command is life and property, and property includes ranches, homesteads, critical infrastructure that supports Southern California.” 

The wildfire that began Friday afternoon about 15 miles northeast of Santa Maria is currently the largest blaze in California.

“Today was a very successful day for the fixed wing air program; we continually flew tankers for at least eight hours straight out of the Santa Maria tanker base,” Mueller said.

Dropping retardant helps give ground crews time to access rugged terrain and helps crews reinforce containment lines, he said. 

The Gifford Fire had about 2,300 personnel assigned to the blaze Tuesday night with another 700 set to arrive Wednesday morning, Mueller said. He has ordered additional bulldozers, CalFire crews and hot shot crews to relieve local resources “since they’ve been working hard the last 48 hours,” he said. 

A challenge related to that are the “competing efforts” for resources with wildfires across the state and nation, including in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Mueller said. 

“I expect to fill the majority of those resources; it’s just not knowing when exactly,” he said.

Mueller said the firefighting force is the “effort of the nation” with federal, state and local fire agencies coordinating. 

“There are resources coming, so we should see a significant difference in fire status in the next couple of days,” he said. 

Officials report that the blaze is threatening 872 structures, and Highway 166 remains closed between Highway 101 and Perkins Road in New Cuyama.

No structures have been officially reported damaged or destroyed, but a damage inspection specialist arrived at the scene Tuesday. When it’s safe, they’ll go into areas with preliminary reports of damage and verify them, Mueller said. 

“With the forecasted weather I think we have it in a good spot,” he said of the fire.

Two More Fire Base Camps 

A base camp in Santa Margarita will provide easier access to the northern footprint of the fire, Mueller said.

That camp will be fully operational Wednesday and host upwards of 1,000 personnel with kitchens, showers, a helicopter base and other services. About 2,000 personnel will continue to be at the Santa Maria base camp, which is at the Elks Rodeo Grounds. 

In the next three to five days, commanders plan to set up a third base camp on the southern end of the blaze, in the Cuyama Valley. 

Multiple base camps will help minimize the amount of time crews spend driving back and forth from their shifts and eliminate firefighter fatigue, Mueller said. 

“The long drive times to the southern end of the fire is what we’re trying to mitigate next,” he said. “After working 24 hours or 12 hours, either way, it’s a long drive back here to sleep. We want to maximize their time on the fire.” 

The Gifford Fire is starting to burn into the Madre Fire burn scar, which is expected to limit its spread to the northeast.

“Dozers and hand crews can anchor into the fire scar of the Madre, which is helpful to us, but not helpful when that was happening,” Mueller said. 

The Gifford Fire also started burning into the San Rafael Wilderness, which is rugged terrain for firefighting efforts. 

Traditional firefighting tools such as roads and fuel breaks can’t be used in some wilderness areas, and typically bulldozers and power saws are prohibited. 

“We have to build hand lines the old-fashioned way,” Los Padres National Forest public information officer Flemming Bertelsen said.

Air Quality

Smoke and ash from the Gifford Fire are expected to affect air quality this week, particularly in areas downwind of the fire.

On Monday, the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District said the three-day forecast is for moderate air quality conditions countywide.

Sensitive groups, including children, seniors and people with heart or lung conditions, are advised to limit strenuous outdoor activity.

An air quality alert remains in effect for the Cuyama Valley, and a watch is in place for the rest of Santa Barbara County. For updates, visit ourair.org.

Evacuations

Evacuation orders remained in effect Tuesday for areas south of Highway 166 between School House Road and Aliso Canyon Road, including Upper Tepusquet Canyon and surrounding zones.

Additional orders were in place for areas east of Cottonwood Canyon Road and west of Willow Springs Trailhead.

New evacuation warnings were issued for Santa Barbara County areas north of Foxen Canyon Road and south of the Sisquoc River, including locations near Zaca Lake Road and Forest Route 10N06 east of Tepusquet Road.

Lower Tepusquet Canyon north of the Sisquoc River remained under a warning.

For more information on Santa Barbara County evacuation orders and warnings, go to ReadySBC.org.

San Luis Obispo County has also issued evacuation orders and warnings, and details can be found at ReadySLO.org.

Temporary evacuation points have been established at:

• Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center, 4689 Highway 166, New Cuyama

• Benjamin Foxen Elementary School, 4949 Foxen Canyon Road, Santa Maria

For large animal evacuations, the Santa Maria Rodeo Grounds is open with access via Gate 2. Those needing help transporting animals can call 805.681.4332.

Domestic pets can be taken to County Animal Services shelters in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Goleta and Buellton.

Noozhawk Executive Editor Giana Magnoli contributed reporting to this story.