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UPDATE: Canyon Fire grows to more than 12,000 acres as crews gain containment

UPDATE: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 5:46 p.m.

Containment of the Canyon Fire burning on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in Santa Barbara County was growing Wednesday. In addition, VAFB officials said growth was slowing. 

Estimates released Wednesday morning showed the fire had burned 12,353 acres on the South Base, but officials say the fire is “relatively stable” and was at 50 percent containment.

Winds are expected to blow to the northwest on Thursday, which could aid efforts by pushing the fire toward areas that have already burned. Fire crews will also concentrate on the northwest portion of the fire to protect launch areas on the base.

Fire crews on Wednesday were processing the fact that one of their colleagues was killed that morning in a vehicle crash while headed to the fire scene.

An air quality warning in Santa Barbara County and an air quality alert in San Luis Obispo County are still in effect.

UPDATE: Tuesday, September 20, 2016

As of Tuesday morning, the Canyon Fire had burned 10,500 acres on Vandenberg Air Force Base. 6,000 acres burned on Monday. The fire was 18 percent contained.

More than 600 firefighters were working to put out the flames on Tuesday. 

An air quality alert has been updated from an alert to a warning for Santa Barbara County. An air quality alert was issued for San Luis Obispo County.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Canyon fire, which is burning on Vandenberg Air Force Base has doubled in size since Sunday. 4500 acres have burned with no containment as of Monday morning.

According to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the fire had grown throughout the day but total growth numbers were not immediately available. Officials from Vandenberg said Monday that the fire started on Saturday on the southern end of the base and they are currently investigating a cause.

Roughly 300 people are currently working on the scene, including fire crews from the base, U.S. Forestry Service, Cal Fire, and Santa Barbara County.

Power outages were reported in several buildings on the base. Those buildings continue to operate with a generator.

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries over the weekend. Both were treated and released in Lompoc.

An air quality watch alert was issued for Santa Barbara County. Parts of the county may experience falling ash. No air quality alerts have been issued so far for San Luis Obispo County.

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