The evacuation zone for the Lake Fire, burning in a rugged area of Santa Barbara County, has expanded for three straight days and now covers more than 130 square miles.
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As of Tuesday night, the fire was at 28,987 acres (45 square miles) with 16% containment, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. It is the state’s biggest wildfire of the year.
Most of the growth Tuesday was toward the southeast, into a wilderness area, CalFire said. The evacuation order now extends to the outskirts of Los Olivos, within 5 miles of Solvang.
The map above shows the approximate fire perimeter as a black line and the evacuation zone in red. For more evacuation details and latest updates, see Santa Barbara County’s emergency map.
The fire started around 4 p.m. Friday, July 5, near Zaca Lake, in Los Padres National Forest. Its cause is under investigation.
In 2007, the same area was burned by the Zaca Fire, which at that time was the second largest wildfire in California’s recorded history — 240,207 acres (375 square miles). It was started on July 4 by sparks from a grinding tool, and hot spots continued to burn until the last days of October.