SCOTTS VALLEY—As the acreage continues to grow in the CZU August Lightning Complex fires, the number of people fighting the blaze on the ground and from the air is also growing.
According to Cal Fire, there are 1,611 firefighters fighting the 78,000-acre blaze out of a command post set up at SkyPark in Scotts Valley. Twenty-three crews have fanned out in the rugged and remote terrain and nine helicopters have assisted with water drops.
That includes firefighters from as far away as Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Idaho. Crews have also funneled in from around the state, including Watsonville, Los Angeles, San Mateo, San Bruno, San Francisco and South San Francisco, Oakland and San Ramon.
Additionally, police from scores of agencies around the state are lending a hand to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, the lead agency for the incident. On Sunday Sheriff Jim Hart said he had 90 officers working the scene. Those officers have helped with everything from traffic control to the evacuation of some 77,000 residents. They’ve also been combatting looting.
Hart said Watsonville sent 10 police officers. Police have also arrived from Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, San Mateo and elsewhere.
“We can’t say thank you enough to our in-county agencies, Santa Cruz PD, Watsonville, Capitola, Scotts Valley, for helping us,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chris Clark said at a Tuesday morning press conference.
The California National Guard has also gotten into the act as well as the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State Parks, the California Highway Patrol and an incident dispatcher from the local 911 Center.
