The blaze threatened about 450 structures and forced the closure of the highway in both directions east of Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 people in Santa Barbara County

A motorist was hospitalized with burn injuries after getting out of his vehicle and being overrun by flames, said Flemming Bertelson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service.

Incident commanders hope an influx of personnel, aircraft and other firefighting tools will boost efforts to corral the Gifford Fire in the coming days,

Gifford started along Highway 166 east of Santa Maria, adjacent to the footprint of the year’s previous biggest fire: Madre, which last month burned 80,779 acres in the Carrizo Plain area. Evacuation orders for Gifford covered almost 600 square miles, and Highway 166 was closed between Highway 101 and New Cuyama.

California’s Gifford Fire has scorched more than 82,000 acres, injuring at least three people and forcing evacuations in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.