The Gifford Fire was first reported Friday near the Gifford trailhead in Los Padres National Forest, around 15 miles east of Santa Maria. It quickly ballooned to more than 23,000 acres within 24 hours.

The map above shows Gifford’s evacuation area in red and the approximate fire perimeter as a black line. Shown as a gray tone is the perimeter of last month’s Madre Fire, previously the biggest fire of the year; it burned 80,779 acres in the Carrizo Plain area, just east of Gifford.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY (KABC) -- Firefighters are trying to gain control of the Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The blaze is just 3% percent contained and has significantly increased in size since Saturday. It has scorched almost 50,000 acres in Los Padres National Forest, according to fire officials.

The Gifford Fire, the largest California wildfire of 2025 so far, was nearing 100,000 acres and had already injured at least seven people.