California’s Gifford Fire scorches 100+ sq miles, threatens 450 homes, injures 3, and shuts down highways as crews battle fierce winds and flames.
United States: A huge wildfire on Monday was putting hundreds of houses in central California in danger, following the injury of at least three people as it ripped through the Los Padres National Forest.
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More than 100 square miles of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo coastal counties were scorched by the Gifford fire, which was continuing to burn actively as per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, called Cal Fire.
One of the motorists was taken to the hospital with burns after stepping out of his car and was overrun by flames, according to Flemming Bertelson, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson, as NBC News reported.
California
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Another massive wildfire burns through the state
Evacuations have been ordered in central California, as a massive wildfire is churning through the brush-covered hillsides in Los Padres national forest. More than 450 structures are under threat by the Gifford fire,… pic.twitter.com/cx3qKDL5O8
As well, two contract employees who help the firefighters were injured as their all-terrain vehicle overturned. The fire was endangering approximately 450 buildings and shut down the highway in both directions east of the city of Santa Maria, which has a population of roughly 110,000 residents in Santa Barbara County.
The small hilly agricultural area is located approximately 65 miles northwest of Santa Barbara and 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and is famous as a wine-producing area with wild-growing California live oaks and Sycamore trees scattered about.
According to Bertelson, “That gave us multiple fronts, and the flames started fanning out in many directions,” NBC News reported.
“The fire is gobbling up chaparral and brushland and running up very steep slopes,” he added.
The complex was a product of at least four smaller fires that broke out Friday between Santa Maria and Bakersfield along State Route 166. Ranchers drove off livestock, and water drops were used by aircraft against the advancing flames.
More than 1,000 firefighters were fighting hot, dry weather and balky winds in an effort to gain ground on the fire before winds were expected to kick up around dusk. The reasons for the fires are being investigated.