GOLETA – An inaccessible area on the western edge of a 9,443-acre wildfire near Goleta has prevented fire bosses from fully surrounding the Gap Fire and declaring containment.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jim Turner will only say the 22-day-old blaze will be contained “in the near future.”

Flames in a remote corner of the burn area are giving firefighters trouble. The quarter-mile to half-mile area is about two miles south of West Camino Cielo and east of Tecolote Canyon.

The wildfire broke out on July 1 about four miles west of Highway 154.

Information from: Santa Maria Times