Gifford Fire along Highway 166 grows to over 104,000 acres; Evacuation Orders & Warnings in Effect
Caleb Nguyen
SAN LUIS OBISPO AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES, Calif. – The Gifford Fire has grown to 104,402 acres, larger than July’s Madre Fire, making it the largest wildfire this year in California. It is near Gifford Trailhead on Highway 166 near the eastern edges of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
As of Saturday, Aug. 8, the fire is 21 percent contained with several Evacuation Orders and Warnings added over the course of the week that are detailed for each county impacted below.
Heavy smoke has been seen across the Central Coast and an air quality alert was issued for Santa Barbara County and current air quality information for San Luis Obispo County can be found here.
La Panza 2 camera at the northern edge of the fire captured at 4:52 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2025.
Three people have been injured in connection with the fire added the Los Padres National Forest.
Santa Barbara County Evacuation Information
Evacuation orders and warnings in Santa Barbara County have been issued for areas south of Highway 166 which forms the northern boundary on the county including:
East of the Willow Springs trailhead and West of Cottonwood Canyon Road
East of School House Road and West of Aliso Canyon Road
East of Cottonwood Canyon Road and West of School House Road
Upper Tepusquet Canyon
Those evacuations are shown in the image below with the fire boundary shown in bright red, Evacuation Orders highlighted in light red, and Evacuation Warnings highlighted in yellow. The dotted black line surrounded by yellow is the county border which roughly matches the path of now-closed Highway 166.
A temporary evacuation points have been established at the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center at 4689 Highway 166 in New Cuyama that is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents can visit the center to incident information, get relief from the smoke, N95 masks, and water. Those looking for masks on the weekend, visit County Fire Station 27 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. located at 41 Newsome Street in New Cuyama.
San Luis Obispo County Evacuation Information
San Luis Obispo County has also issued evacuation orders and warnings that are shown in the image below with fresh Evacuation Orders and Warnings issued Wednesday for northern edges of the fire.
On Thursday, an evacuation shelter was set up at Arroyo Grande High School at 495 Valley Road. If you have questions about the shelter at Arroyo High, call 805-543-2444. That evacuation center will be moving to New Life Community Church in Pismo Beach at 990 James Way on August 10 at 4:00 pm.
For those in need of help finding shelter after being displaced by the evacuations, call the American Red Cross at 805-678-3073.
Gifford Fire response from the air on Aug. 6, 2025, courtesy of the Los Padres National Forest
Lopez Lake is under an evacuation order in connection with the Gifford Fire. All visitors must leave the area and public access is closed until further notice. All reservations until Aug. 21, 2025 have been cancelled with refunds granted automatically shared San Luis Obispo County Parks and Recreation.
The Gifford Fire first broke out before 2:00 p.m. on Friday and resulted from a series of spot fires in the same area along Highway 166 according to Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) officials.
Highway 166 to State Route 33, between Santa Maria and New Cuyama, has been closed due to the fire and will remain closed until further notice detailed the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
More information on this fire response will be added to this article and on Your News Channel broadcasts as it becomes available.