Out-of-control wildfire in Santa Cruz Mountains

Source: SF Chronicle

Out-of-control fire burns structures in Santa Cruz Mountains

John Coté, Demian Bulwa,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers


(05-22) 12:10 PDT GILROY -- A wind-blown wildfire is raging out of control across unseasonably dry terrain in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Gilroy, burning at least 10 structures and forcing the evacuation of residents, authorities said.

The Summit Fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. today and has burned more than 2,500 acres north of Highway 152 around the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, according to officials with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and other agencies.

The fire is burning off Summit Road north of Mount Madonna County Park, which is about 5 miles west of Gilroy. As of noon there was no containment of the blaze.

There were no reports of injuries, but at least 55 structures are threatened, officials said. It is unknown how many of 10 structures that have burned are homes.

Evacuations are in progress along Eureka Canyon, Ormsby Cutoff and Summit roads, authorities said. The flames are being fanned by gusty winds out of the northwest that are predicted to hit 35 to 40 mph today.

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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/22/BALR10R13D.DTL

I doubt it can be contained quickly. :-(

Hekate

This was posted on a yahoo group I lurk at. I can see the smoke from work, this is a bad one. It's going to be a very long season I fear.


CA OES FLASH INCIDENT REPORT

EVENT NAME: The Summit Fire, Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County Line (This report may contain unconfirmed information)

DATE/TIME OF REPORT: 05/22/08 at 1045 hours.

DATE/TIME OF EVENT: 05/22/08 at 0517 hours.

LOCATION: 31000 Loma Prieta and Summit in the area of Hwy 17 west of Gilroy on the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County Line.

IMPACT OF EVENT: Minor

SITUATION UPDATE: Per the FDO and CDO, the fire is estimated to be at approximately 1700 acres. Reportedly an unknown number of structures have been lost, however details are not estimated available at this time. The Fire Incident Command (IC) has been established at Corralitos Rd and Freedom Blvd near Watsonville. Santa Clara County has activated their EOC. The American Red Cross (ARC) is currently coordinating an evacuation center at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Two hundred (200) children at the Konoinia Camp have been bussed out of the area to a safe location of Lake View School. The students will be bussed home from there. Santa Cruz Animal Services Authority is coordinating animal rescue. The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds is staging for an animal shelter. Additional animal rescue resources are coming in from Martinez and El Dorado County to assist. The following road closures are in place at this time: Eureka Canyon @ Hames, Highland Way @ Summit Road, Mt. Madonna Road at Hazel Dell Road.

SITUATION: Per the OES Fire Duty Officer (FDO), the Summit Fire, CA-SCU-002856, a State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire is burning in the area of 31000 Loma Prieta and Summit in the area of Hwy 17 west of Gilroy on the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County line. The Santa Clara Cal Fire Range Unit is currently handling this fire. Multiple resources have been ordered at this time including Cal Fire engine strike teams and Local government strike team. Due to the fire being wind driven, the Incident Command (IC) team has ordered additional resources. An unknown number of evacuations have been ordered on the ridge top for a small cluster of homes. Santa Cruz County initiated a reverse 911 evacuation notification to 360 residences in the area. The Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Departments are currently assisting with the evacuations. The evacuation sites that residents are being advised to go to C. T. English Middle School and Loma Prieta Elementary which are located at the same address of 23800 Summit Road in Los Gatos. An additional evacuation site has been opened at Mt. Madonna County Park at HWY 152 and Pope Line Road. Santa Cruz County OES has activated their Emergency Operation Center (EOC). The OES Regional Operation Center (REOC) and the OES State Operation Center (SOC) are activated in support of the County at this time. Per the California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO), the 500 KV lines in the area are not threatened at this time.

Be well...

so I'm well to the north and west of this fire, but it's on the hill, so you can see it from just about anywhere south of UCSC. Still quite a sight though. I had a good view of the area of origin, south of Mount Umunhum. Toward the end of the afternoon, the smoke from that area was letting up a little bit because the main body of he fire was heading south.

I want to give a big huzzah to the fire and emergency crews on this one. Between the topology, the wind, and the fuel loading they're dealing with, I have a hard time thinking of a set up that would be worse. Even with no containment at this point, they're keeping from being a lot worse that it could be.

As an added bonus, the NOAA weather report for the area for the next 48 hours...

Overnight: Areas of smoke. Mostly clear, with a low around 52.
North northwest wind between 5 and 9 mph.

Friday: Areas of smoke before 11am.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
North wind 5 to 11 mph becoming west.

Friday Night: A 10 percent chance of showers after 11pm.
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.
South southwest wind between 7 and 11 mph.

Saturday: A slight chance of showers,
then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. South southwest wind
between 8 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.
Southwest wind between 8 and 11 mph becoming calm.
Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 11am.
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63.

Good news there. Higher RH, north winds and a chance of precip.
About the most you could hope for right now.

I wonder if this is a harbinger of the fire season throughout the state?

...which, a few dry, globally warmed years down the line, may not seem "early" at all...

We've had strong winds yesterday and part of today, set to continue for awhile, and I expect Santa Ana winds/sundowners at some point.

Best of luck to all you in No Cal.

Hekate

It's staying too hot and dry too late, and this year we have had hot, dry, fierce Santa Ana winds every single month. We had them twice in F---ING APRIL, for crying out loud.

the north of where there are the Santa Anas

non-fire season..........

much dryer conditions.

Other than the unbelievable heat wave we had last week this has been a relatively cool and moist year for us up here, at least on the coast. I don't know about in the mountains inland-- last time I was up there in March the snow cover seemed pretty normal, though. I think it's going to be much worse in So. Cal this year than up here-- although by August, who knows? I'm surprised to hear it was so dry so early near Santa Cruz-- that's not THAT far south!

so hopefully this will fizzle out......

Cool and windy on the coast.

the last hour or so. I hear Orange County is having hail and thunderstorms. We need the moisture. Fine with me.

he was working as a counselor at a science camp in the mountains, and I got a call around 9am that they were leaving (they were due to leave later today anyway). The camp is about 4 miles from where the fire started. My wife works in a hospital in Watsonville, about 8 miles (and in town, not the mountains) from the fire. She said no injuries had arrived, but there were reports of homes burning, and ash was coating cars in the parking lot...

It's been over 20 years since we last had a major wildfire in our area; at the time I was working swing shift, and would commute over Hwy 17 at midnight seeing the mountain ridges ringed with flames (although the fire never got close enough to close the road). It was very eerie. The group home I was working at at the time was just over the ridge (a few miles) from the fire, and we could see smoke and helicopters for the better part of a week...let's hope we get some cool moist weather, or at least for this wind to die down.

It was eerie to see it on roads we drove everyday to work.

I hope everyone stays safe.

:grouphug:

I don't live close enough to be evacuated -- we live by the beach, and the fire is across the freeway and up into the hills, but the sky has been filled with smoke all day. A lot of the schools are being evacuated due to the air quality, and a friend of my daughter had to leave school to evacuate her house, which is only about 3 miles from mine.

The winds have been very gusty all day -- up to 40MPH at some points -- and it's warm with no fog. The winds should shift tonight and hopefully some wetter air will come in an help the firefighters.

Houses have already been lost. :(

That must be terrifying.


:scared:

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pics 8-15 are of the air drop.