BOULDER CREEK — Firefighters battling the Bear Fire were aided slightly with about a quarter-inch of rain that fell late Thursday night, and by cool weather, Cal Fire spokeswoman Angela Bernheisel said.
Still, the rough, steep terrain is a major stumbling block for the crews, who had the fire 40 percent contained.
As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, the blaze had grown to 320 acres and destroyed four structures. Evacuation orders remained in place for Bear Creek Canyon Road, Deer Creek Road, Rons Road, Don’s Road, along with their tributary roads.
Bear Creek Road is open to residents only between Hawk Ridge Road and Highway 35.
Bear Fire evacuation centers are open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily as information centers until the evacuations are lifted.
The evacuation centers are Lakeside Elementary School in Los Gatos and Zayante Fire Protection District Station in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office officials expect full containment in the middle of next week.
Across the state, some 10,000 firefighters are battling nine large wildfires, while more than 15,000 people remain evacuated.
The fires that have been burning in Sonoma and Napa counties since Oct. 8 have so far burned more than 107,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,800 structures.
