The Los Padres National Forest reports firefighters are continuing to make progress as the Sherpa Fire’s containment hit 96 percent on Thursday.

A northeast section of inaccessible and steep terrain continue to challenge crews full containment of the fire, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Madsen said. 

Firefighters and aerial crews continue to monitor this steep area, he said.

Officials anticipated having full containment by Thursday, but crews patrolling the burn area also continue to find small hot spots.

“There are crews patrolling the exterior and interior of the fire and they continue to find small heat sources within the fire such as stump holes and piles of leaves, brush and roots that have fire inside of them,” Madsen said.

Full containment of the blaze is expected by July 21, according to the U.S. Forest Service. 

Fire crews are working on suppression rehabilitation projects such as stabilizing fire lines and rebuilding off-highway barriers that were damaged by in building the lines, Madsen said.

“The crews are cleaning up piles of brush pushed up by bulldozers and chipping material that was cut along fire line,” he said. 

The Sherpa Fire ignited on June 15 near buildings at Ranch La Scherpa near the top of Refugio Canyon.

Ground crews and aircraft waged a fierce firefight on the blaze for about a week before the effort transitioned to containment and control.

The wildfire grew to 7,474 acres and caused mandatory evacuations for campgrounds and neighborhoods on the Gaviota Coast.

Officials have not yet announced the cause of the fire. 

— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.