Santa Cruz Summit Fire

There was a small spark that started a huge wildfire yesterday in the Santa Cruz Summit area. No one knows (as of this writing) the exact source of the fire. I usually drive my son to school in San Jose via South 101 to Hwy 85 then Hwy 280 - by the time I got on 85 yesterday morning (7:30 am) you could see plumes of what appeared to be steam coming up behind the ridge. As I was listening to the radio at the time, I soon learned about the fire. At that time they were saying it was only 17 acres but now over 3,000 acres are involved.

Here is a link for a satellite imageview It looks like this view is yesterday's data as today the smoke has shifted in a northerly direction (if you look tomorrow it will probably reflect that change).

Here is a quote from KRON 4 blogspot as of 10:56 a.m.

Now the fire is described as 3,400-acre blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has destroyed at least a dozen homes. About 500 homes and 20 businesses are considered threatened. There are 350 homes under mandatory evacuation orders and residents of 1,400 homes are being asked to evacuate voluntarily. Thank goodness there are no reported injuries or fatalities.

Governor Schwarzenegger arrived at the command center in Gilroy at noon today. The California National Guard has been mobilized. Yesterday he declared a state of emergency for Santa Cruz County. There are over 500 fresh firemen on the scene today with over 164 fire engines, 7 helicopters, 11 dozers and 31 water tenders. People (and animals) have been evacuated to the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.information:

There are many reports of "unbreathable" air as far north as Foster City and in Mountain View the Fire Department has asked that children be kept inside today. The poor air quality is most worrisome for people with respiratory problems, small children, the elderly and anyone immuno-comprimised. According to one "expert" I heard interviewed, the threat will dissipate when the fire is put out (it is 20% contained as of this writing) but if you can see smoke, stay inside. If you can smell smoke, you are probably ok if you are not in the above listed concerned groups.

There was a rumor (not sure if it's possible or not) that lots of poison oak has been burning along with the brush and the particulates of thatcan be carried in the air. I don't want to spread false rumors, but I am going to ask my doctor about it out of curiosity.

Fire is 3100 acres @ 20% containment. Fire is expected to transition from a wind driven fire to a fuel-slope driven fire with West South West winds by mid-day. Critical resource needs for the next burning period include: 14 Strike Teams of Type Three Engines,Division Group Supervisors, Staging Area Managers, Status Check In Recorders, C- Faller Modules. Major problems: Evacuations of all residents in the area of Eureka Canyon Road area and Ormsby Cutoff Road,Lower Highland area which includes Buzzard, Lagoon,Vaca De Sol area which are all in Santa Cruz County, Summit Road. Control problems include steep terrain and heavy thick dead fuels. The greatest challenges will be where topographic canyons such as Rattle Snake Gulch, Ramsey Gulch and Game Cock Canyon are in allignment with slope and general winds. CAL FIRE IMT #4 assumed command at 2000 hrs last night.

I discovered a great new use for blogging, as I've been monitoring this news on the KRON 4 blogspot blogspot What a great way to get current information out to the communities involved! Here are several links for more indepth information: video on YouTube YouTube
information:

The weather forecast calls for 30% chance of rain tomorrow. I'm sure the firefighters would appreciate it, but no thunderstorms/lightning!

Original 50-something moms blog post