California Blaze Burning for Week Chars Thousands of Acres

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Four fires in the Los Angeles area have consumed more than 100,000 acres and sent thousands of residents fleeing for their lives as dry conditions and strong winds fan flames.

The Gifford Fire, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) from downtown, started Aug. 1 and has burned 99,232 acres in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. It is 15% contained, according to CalFire, the state fire agency.

The uncontrolled Canyon Fire started in Ventura County Wednesday and quickly spread to Los Angeles County. It has burned more than 4,850 acres, forced the evacuation of more than 4,300 residents and put 12,000 under evacuation warnings, the governor’s office said Friday.

In addition, the Rosa Fire in Riverside County has burned 1,690 acres and the Gold Fire in San Bernardino County has consumed 1,079 acres. Both fires started Aug. 4.

“This fire has grown and the wind is very squirrelly,” said Garrett Huff, deputy chief of emergency services for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said in a videocast Thursday night about the Gifford Fire. “It changes hour to hour and minute by minute.”

Several schools in the area have been opened as shelters. On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California had received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fight the Canyon Fire.

Firefighters in Ventura County are battling the Canyon blaze with aircraft water and retardant drop, as the fire spreads east toward the community of Castaic in Los Angeles County. Evacuation orders remain in effect for multiple areas in that region.

“The story of this fire actually started months ago if you guys remember the winter rains,” said fire analyst Garrett Hazleton, referring to the Gifford blaze. “What that did is it gave those plants a lot of water right at the peak of their growing season so we had an abundantly high grass crop more than normal.”

In addition, some areas around the perimeter of the fire zone haven’t burned since 1950, so there’s been ample fuel. In other areas, drought and efforts to cut back on vegetation reduced the amount of material available to burn.

Photo: A firefighter near smoke from the Gifford Fire in Los Padres National Forest, California. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)