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

Rising temperatures on Wednesday posed new challenges for firefighters who have made incremental progress against a massive wildfire in central California that injured four people as it became the biggest blaze in the state so far this year.

The Gifford Fire rages to more than 82,000 acres of destruction. The photos from the frontlines show how intense the California wildfire has become.