UPDATE (5:16pm, Aug. 20)
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Keehn said the City of Scotts Valley is expected to be evacuated later Thursday evening.
UPDATE (3:26pm, Aug. 20)
The City of Scotts Valley west of Highway 17, including the downtown area, Paradise Park and the UC Santa Cruz campus have all been given evacuation warnings.
UPDATE (1pm, Aug. 20)
Cal Fire is ordering all Zayante Canyon residents to evacuate.
UPDATE (8am, Aug. 20)
Cal Fire is ordering all areas of Felton to evacuate immediately.
Evacuation centers have been set up at Half Moon Bay High School (1 Lewis Foster Dr, Half Moon Bay), the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (307 Church St.) and the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville).
Evacuees who cannot find refuge should call the American Red Cross at 866-272-2237.
The County is also establishing safe parking zones at Cabrillo College and Santa Cruz Bible Church. Several local churches are allowing evacuees to park on their properties as well, according to County officials.
UPDATE (7:21am, Aug. 20)
The CZU August Complex Fire has now burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed 20 structures and is threatening 8,600 structures, fire officials told reporters early Thursday morning.
The fire overnight moved from the west side of Empire Ridge Road and was threatening structures on the eastern slope, and moving toward Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond and the San Lorenzo Valley. It is threatening the communities of Pescadero, La Honda, Bonny Doon and Brookdale.
Cal Fire officials warn that the fire has the potential to greatly expand in the next 48 hours.
More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from the areas threatened by the fire, officials said.
It is 0% contained, officials said. Residents of Davenport were evacuated late Wednesday.
Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy Chris Clark, echoing sentiments from the fire officials, stressed the importance of heeding evacuation commands. Not doing so, he said, puts both the residents and firefighters in danger.
The officials said that all county residents should be ready to evacuate.
“I really can’t stress more the importance of leaving when those orders come out,” Clark said.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office used 160 officers—both their own and from neighboring jurisdictions—to help with evacuations yesterday. They made contact with roughly 25,000 residents.
California State Parks, meanwhile, has closed Año Nuevo, Big Basin Redwoods, Butano, Castle Rock, Henry Cowell Redwoods and Portola Redwoods state parks.
The fire on Tuesday caused extensive damage at Big Basin State Park, including the headquarters and campgrounds.
Heavy smoke conditions have made it challenging to get a read on where the fire event is and where it isn’t, or even how big it is for that matter. (The fact that it’s now a “complex,” though, means that the incident contains at least two fires.) The smoke has been too thick for aircraft to fly near the blaze, Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Mark Brunton said at a press conference Wednesday night.
“It’s been difficult to get a very clear picture,” he said.
He added that crews could also be waiting another couple days before they’re ready to begin aerial firefights.
Cox said the region has not burned in more than 50 years, and there are old-growth trees there. That gives the fuel of the fire and also makes them tougher to fight, he said.
“This is not an area you can drive into or walk into,” he said.
The CZU August Lightning Complex Fire is not happening in a vacuum. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday afternoon that, in a period of extreme heat, the state experienced 10,849 lightning strikes within 72 hours. Crews, he said, were battling 367 known fires.
Intense heat, with highs at 105 degrees for several days in a row, have added to the danger. Air quality officials have also said that the Bay Area currently has the worst air quality in the world.
Cal Fire officials also said evacuees should try to find family or friends that they are comfortable staying with before they turn to evacuation centers to limit the possible spread of Covid-19.
Todd Guild, Tony Nuñez and Jacob Pierce contributed to this update.
SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS—Cal Fire has ordered more than 22,000 residents in several areas of northern Santa Cruz County and south San Mateo County to evacuate as fires have spread throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, scorching at least 40,000 acres as of Wednesday morning.
The CZU August Lightning Complex, a series of 22 fires burning at various locations near the counties’ shared border, started Sunday morning during an atypical lightning storm.
The fires are threatening 6,000 structures and are 0% contained, Cal Fire said.
Three first responders have suffered minor injuries. Nearly 600 first responders are battling the fires, according to Cal Fire.
They are heading in a southeastern direction and spreading down the Santa Cruz Mountains, Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox told reporters Wednesday morning.
“The unfortunate turn of events yesterday was the wind,” Cox said. “That’s why we’ve gone so quickly from a small-growing fire in the middle of the remote parts of the county to a fire front that has pushed southward fairly quickly.”
Cal Fire has identified five large fires, including the Waddell and Warenella fires. Combined, those two have ripped through 620 acres in the northern reaches of Santa Cruz County near Highway 1.
Three other fires have charred at least 9,000 acres, causing Cal Fire to order mass evacuations. Cox said several of the fires merged overnight.
Cal Fire said residents of communities adjacent to Bonny Doon and San Lorenzo Valley should also be prepared to evacuate.
Evacuation centers have been set up at Half Moon Bay High School (1 Lewis Foster Dr, Half Moon Bay), the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (307 Church St.) and the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville).
Gov. Gavin Newsom late Tuesday declared a statewide emergency as several fires have arisen throughout the state. During a press conference Wednesday he said there are at least 367 ongoing wildfires.
•••
Santa Cruz County evacuations:
• Waterman Gap Loop
• Upper Highway 236
• Boulder Creek Golf Course
• Heartwood Hill Lodge Road
• The community of Little Basin
• Upper China Grade
• Lodge Road
• The community of Kings Highway
• Lower Jamison Creek
• Gallion Heights
• Fallen Leaf neighborhood
• Foxglove Lane
• Saratoga Toll Road
• San Lorenzo Park
• Riverside Grove-Community of Telih Drive
• Wildwood Road
• Everyone on Empire Grade Road, from Felton Empire north
• All of Pine Flat Road
• All of Ice Cream Grade
• Bonny Doon Road, between Pine Flat Road, Martin Road and all side streets
• Bonny Doon south of Ice Cream Grade, to include Pine Flat Road South
• Areas West of Highway 9 to Empire Grade
• South from Bear Creek Road to Felton, this includes Ben Lomond
• Areas of Alba Road, Hubbard Gulch and Fanning Grade
• Davenport South
• All areas of Ben Lomond
• The area of Lompico
• All areas of Felton
