The Gifford Fire, a massive wildfire in central California, has become the largest blaze in the state so far in 2025, burning at least 131 square miles across Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

With only 9% containment, the fire surpassed the previous largest fire of the year, the Madre Fire, which burned 126 square miles last month in San Luis Obispo County.

The big picture: The fire is advancing slowly but steadily after several days of uncontrolled burning and threatens more than 870 remote homes and other structures located at the northern edge of Los Padres National Forest. • Over 2,200 firefighting personnel are currently engaged in battling the fire, which ignited from at least four smaller fires that erupted simultaneously on Friday along State Route 166, leading to ro

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