Central California wildfire injures three, threatens homes

The Gifford Fire had scorched more than 72,000 acres of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties by Tuesday as it continued to burn out of control. The fire, which started on Friday, was 7% contained Tuesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

At least three people had been injured as of Sunday. One area resident was airlifted to a hospital with burn injuries, and two contractors were hospitalized after their vehicle overturned, according to the Los Padres National Forest service. Up to 872 structures, including homes, were in danger, the forest service said on Monday evening. Large swaths of both affected counties were under evacuation orders, according to Cal Fire.

How are efforts to contain the fire going? Over 1,900 firefighters and emergency workers were battling the blaze on Tuesday morning, according to a Los Padres National Forest post. They made progress in establishing containment lines on several sides of the fire, the forest service said on Monday evening. The fire fed on dry grass and brush as it climbed steep terrain in the national forest, according to a state fire tracking website. Helicopters on Tuesday were expected to drop huge amounts of water in hard-to-reach areas, according to the website.

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