Cal Fire responds to three burns

Half of the fires were the result of unmanned backyard burns that went out of control

SANTA CRUZ >> Over the course of the last six days, Cal Fire has responded to five fires within Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.

Three of those blazes were caused by control burns growing out of control, or not being put out properly, according to Cal Fire San Mateo — Santa Cruz Unit Chief Ian Larkin.

The Fossil Fire, which burned upward of 3 acres in Boulder Creek, was triggered by property owners failing to fully extinguish their backyard burn.

“It’s just like a campfire,” Larkin said. “When you leave the camp fire you’re supposed to put the fire all the way out, wet it out.”

On Sunday, Deer Creek Road residents burned trash, and the fire grew out of control to a quarter-acre.

“They weren’t paying attention and it got away from them… they were not in attendance when it escaped their control,” Larkin said.

Monday in Soquel, another prescribed burn grew unmanageable.

Santa Cruz County faces a 50% deficit compared to average expected rainfall totals for this time of year, according to a Cal Fire press release. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, drought is seemingly more severe — Ben Lomond has received only 58% of typical rainfall levels thus far.

“This isn’t out of the ordinary for this time of the year but we’re concerned about how fast our fuels are drying out,” Larkin said of the wildfires the agency responded to in the last week. “For fuels to be receptive, to carry fire like they are already for this time of year, is concerning and we’re watching it very closely.”

Cal Fire is considering putting in place a controlled burn ban according to Larkin, or cutting off prescribed burn activities by April 30.

Craig Clements, who leads San Jose State’s Fire Weather Lab, said vegetation in the Santa Cruz Mountains region is exceptionally dry for this time of year.

At a Mount Umunhum site, Clements said there was no new vegetation growth to sample. Vegetation at a site in Los Gatos is at historically dry levels.

“April 1st is generally when we see the highest fuel moisture, that’s when plants start growing, they’ve got all the rains from the winter, there’s all the shoots coming out from shrubs that should turn these hillsides bright green but we didn’t see any of that,” Clements said. “There’s no new growth. It’s either delayed by a month, or will be really limited.”