Heat, wind, low relative humidity, and rugged terrain have combined to create difficult firefighting conditions for an army of firefighters trying to stop the massive Gifford Fire burning on the Central Coast.
"It's really hard for the general public to understand the kind of environment the firefighters are dealing with out there," said Scott Safechuck with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and the Public Information Officer for the coalition of agencies battling the Gifford Fire. "It's rugged country, with temperatures reaching 90+ degrees."
The fire is burning about 15 miles northeast of Santa Maria, with much of the land in the Los Padres National Forest. It started Friday afternoon, and mushroomed in size over the weekend. It’s burning in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.
According to Safechuck, they’ve seen some unusual conditions that helped the fire explode in size.
"You get intense burning conditions, which create a plume that rises quickly. It's what we call a plume-dominated fire," explained Safechuck. "That smoke is rising at such a fast rate because there's so much energy being released by the consumption of fuel that it reaches very high altitudes. The moisture content inside that smoke reaches a freezing temperature, called 'capping out.' You'll see this white cap at the top of the plume. That white plume becomes heavier than air and then collapses back down on the plume and the fire and increases the fire activity."
Highway 166 is closed from Santa Maria to New Cuyama, and hundreds of structures are threatened. The area is sparsely populated, but there are scattered ranches and homes. So far, no structures have been reported lost, but some evacuation orders and warnings have been issued.
"The public, when they drive through there (on Highway 166), sees picturesque mountains, dry grass, and oak trees," said Safechuck. "But, peppered in there are residences and ranches."
The timing of the fire is a twist for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management. This week, the agency was preparing to unveil Genasys, a new emergency mapping system for first responders and the public.
In the past, emergency officials created maps during disasters. Genasys has premade maps that easily allow data to be added. It's easy for someone to put in their address and see if they're affected by an evacuation warning or order.
The Genasys system was pressed into action early with the Gifford Fire.
"Having a single source of data to coordinate among response agencies. All response agencies have the same exact zones (on the maps), and data to make better informed decisions," said Yaneris Muniz, who is Emergency Manager for the County Office of Emergency Management, and Project Manager for the Genasys project. She said it’s an important new tool for people potentially impacted by disasters.
"When they get alerts, they (people) are often wondering, 'Does this apply to me? Where can I find a visual of the area that's under an evacuation order?' With Genasys, we now have a way to support that visual element," said Muniz.
The Gifford Fire has been surging south, away from structures, but towards a wilderness area, which would make it more difficult to fight.
It’s the second major wildfire this summer along Highway 166 between Santa Maria and New Cuyama. The Madre Fire began on July 2 and burned 80,000 acres of land before it was fully controlled on July 26. The earlier fire is also helping firefighters deal with the Gifford Fire. It's preventing it from moving northeast because the Madre Fire burn area lacks new fuel sources.
Firefighters are concerned that the weather forecast shows more hot, dry conditions for the next few days, which could add to the growth of the massive wildfire. They believe that containment could take weeks.
