The Gifford Fire has been burning in two counties for a couple of weeks. This fire, combined with a previous burn in the same area, has incinerated well over 200,000 acres of vegetation; that’s more than 300 square miles of now barren land.
The immediate losses, millions of dollars in losses, are associated with ranches, grazing lands, and public infrastructure. And before it’s over, the fire suppression costs will also be in the millions of dollars as fire crews work for several weeks to fully extinguish the last embers.
The Santa Maria Times reported that the owner of the Rock Front Ranch east of Santa Maria said, “We were one of the first places to burn,” Alisha Taff said. “There’s no pasture left for livestock, and no forage for the bees. Not just here, but across the surrounding national forest lands.”
“About 99.9 percent of the ranch burned,” Taff said on Aug. 8. “Even the fencing, irrigation, water troughs, everything’s gone. But the most critical loss is the land itself. Without native plants, there’s no nectar. It could take three to five years for the ecosystem to recover.”
Other ranches have met the same fate. Next winter and spring will bring the inevitable flooding that will occur following these types of fires.
While hot/dry weather, winds, rugged terrain, and the types of vegetation involved (grass and light brush) contribute to the rapid spread of the fire, it’s also true that when the fire reaches so called “wilderness areas” forest management practices will add to containment issues.
Fire officials have explained that motorized equipment, such as fire engines, bulldozers, and even chain saws, cannot be used. Simply put, it will be men and women using axes, shovels, and other hand tools to create bare earth line around the fire and eventually extinguish all the burning material.
Crews often camp out in so called “spike camps,” since they will be many hours from the nearest fire camp or other suitable lodging and eating meals in the field, most of which are simply “box lunches” or Meals Ready-to-Eat that are used by the military.
When in these remote areas, they will also sleep on the ground, and personal hygiene can be problematic. Communication with the fire crews’ families while working these fires may be difficult to impossible for several days because there is little to no cell service in wilderness areas.
Most people rarely think of the conditions wildland firefighters encounter during these large fires. The media rarely spends more than a couple of minutes updating the public when fires like the Gifford Fire are in remote areas and only threaten or destroy ranch buildings.
According to press reports, nearly 3,000 structures including barns, outbuildings, and homes were threatened.
The biggest visual of the current fire was the smoke cloud rising into the summer sky each day. This cloud wasn’t just a visual thing because as it spread across the sky with the wind was blown into populated areas and hindered the use of air tankers and helicopters due to poor visibility.
Smoke can be hazardous to your health if you have breathing difficulties. Imagine what it’s like for the firefighters who must work, eat, and try to sleep in hot, smoky conditions for days at a time.
Eventually fire officials will figure out what caused this fire, the second of the year along this section of Highway 166. One thing is certain—this won’t be the last fire in the country that crews like this will be called to.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 21-31, 2025.