Dozens evacuated after 20 fires broke out in the Santa Cruz mountains
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SANTA CRUZ, California (KSBW) — Nineteen fires broke out overnight in the Santa Cruz mountains following severe winds knocking down powerlines and another igniting from the remaining embers of the CZU Lightning Complex fire. However, this time around, crews had some wet weather on their side.
“One thing that we do have in our favor is that we did get some rain, so there is a little bit of moisture in the fuel,” said Cal Fire Unit Chief, Ian Larkin. “If this was the middle of fire season and we had a wind event, it would have been the CZU Complex all over again.”
But some are reliving that time, as Santa Cruz County Sheriff urged 120 residents in parts of Boulder Creek and Aptos to pack up and leave.
“Part of the Boulder Creek area has been evacuated before, up on Panther Ridge. But Aptos, obviously this is a new one,” said Ashley Keehn, Public Information Officer for Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. “At this point, we’re hoping that we will not have to evacuate anymore homes, but it’s really going to be dependent on the weather. If this wind picks up, then we could see more evacuations. So, we are asking people to stay vigilant, to be prepared in the even that they do need to get up and leave in a short period of time.”
“We don’t anticipate it getting any worse,” explained Larkin. “The winds have subsided for the most part and the humidities are starting to come up, we’re starting to see cooler temperatures. So, we’re grateful for that to help us out with the suppression efforts.”
As for the flames, Larkin said they will likely be out before the end of the week and those who have been evacuated will likely be able to return home Wednesday.
“Those that are nearing containment, we’re hoping to have them fully contained by morning (Wednesday), if not by midday. And the remainder of the fires may take us another day to get them fully contained. So, hopefully some time by around Thursday we’ll have 100% containment,” Larkin said.
Santa Cruz County did have an evacuation center at Corralitos Community Church for those who needed it. Fortunately, only a couple people utilized its services and moved on. Since most people will likely be going home Wednesday, Santa Cruz County Public Information Officer Jason Hoppin said there will be no need to keep the center going.
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