California’s largest wildfire of 2025 has exploded in size, prompting urgent evacuations as fire-fueling heat grips the region.

The fire has scorched at least 131 square miles of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with just 9% containment.

Amid a worsening climate crisis, the fires in California have reached catastrophic levels as the Gifford Fire rips through the central coast, tearing across dry forests and mountain terrain with alarming speed and intensity.