Gifford Fire

Wildfire in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, August 2025

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8658/gifford-fire-2025

Key facts

Started August 1, 2025
Contained October 14, 2025, after 74 days
Burned 131,614 acres
Largest fire of 2025 and 36th largest in California's records
Cause Not recorded
Buildings 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. San Luis Obispo County 83,590 acres
  2. Santa Barbara County 47,951 acres

Acres are the land the fire burned in each county and community, and places where it burned less than an acre are not listed. Communities are cities, towns and the unincorporated places the Census Bureau names, so land outside any of them is counted only in its county.

Buildings damaged

  1. Destroyed Over 50% damaged 4
  2. Minor damage 10 to 25% damaged 1

Buildings CAL FIRE inspected after the fire, by how badly each was damaged. Inspectors record homes, businesses and outbuildings within 100 meters of the fire, and cannot always reach every one, so the counts can differ slightly from other reports.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1912 Unnamed fire 8,717 acres shared
  2. 1913 Unnamed fire 14,878 acres in total 5,675 acres shared
  3. 1917 Unnamed fire 21,242 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 7,616 acres shared
  4. 1921 Unnamed fire 12,351 acres in total 9,838 acres shared
  5. 1922 Unnamed fire 114,745 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 36,844 acres shared
  6. 1923 Unnamed fire 8,301 acres in total 4,216 acres shared
  7. 1924 Unnamed fire 11,612 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 9,600 acres shared
  8. 1928 Unnamed fire 7,070 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 4,234 acres shared
  9. 1939 Unnamed fire 28,314 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 2,034 acres shared
  10. 1950 Unnamed fire 15,428 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 12,673 acres shared
  11. 1950 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 3,608 acres shared
  12. 1953 Big Dalton Fire 67,702 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 12,091 acres shared
  13. 1957 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 16,506 acres shared
  14. 1957 Wilcox Fire 4,472 acres shared
  15. 1988 Camp Fire 5,815 acres in total · Cause: Arson 3,763 acres shared
  16. 1996 Highway 58 Fire 106,970 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 4,040 acres shared
  17. 1997 Logan Fire 49,491 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 25,160 acres shared
  18. 1999 Spanish Fire 22,296 acres in total 12,109 acres shared
  19. 2009 La Brea Fire 97,815 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 13,616 acres shared
  20. 2018 Front Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 1,013 acres shared

And 38 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Gifford Fire, and fires that shared less than an acre are not counted. Some older or smaller fires may be missing, and a fire perimeter can include unburned patches. How to read fire history

Sources

Fire history
CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program
Published 28 July 2026
Building damage
CAL FIRE Damage Inspection
Updated 19 October 2026

This site is independent and not affiliated with CAL FIRE or the CPUC, so for an official determination, check with the agency or your city or county. How we read the data