Weather helps as firefighters gain on blaze
Falling temperatures and light winds came at a critical juncture Wednesday for firefighters battling a blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains that threatened hundreds of structures and forced dozens of people to flee their homes.
Increased humidity and a 10-degree drop in high temperatures prompted optimism among those fighting the Loma Fire, which has burned 2,250 acres of rugged terrain since igniting Monday near Loma Prieta Avenue and Loma Chiquita Road west of Morgan Hill. Mandatory evacuation orders for Santa Cruz County residents living in the fire zone were lifted late Wednesday.
“Typically, when we have the cooler weather with the lower wind speeds, the fire doesn’t behave as erratically, so we can get closer to the edge,” Sean Cassatt, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Wednesday. “Our goal today is to take advantage of the cooler weather.”
Temperatures were forecast to reach the upper 70s to mid-80s, down from the mid-90s on Monday and Tuesday.
The cooling trend was forecast to continue through the rest of the week, with a cold front bringing a slight chance of rain by Sunday.
The cold front, however, will also bring stronger winds, said Matt Mehle, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The relatively light winds of 5 to 10 mph in the fire zone are expected to double in strength at the end of the week, with gusts picking up to 25 mph, Mehle said.
“Given that we’re going to see strong winds and the fuels are so dry now, that’s going to cause concerns,” he said.
The fire has leveled one home, damaged another and destroyed six other buildings, officials said. Cal Fire said 300 structures were threatened. No injuries have been reported.
More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to fight the inferno, which was 10 percent contained Wednesday morning. Fire officials expect to have it completely contained by Monday, Cassatt said.
A large plume of smoke could be seen miles from the fire, which was burning along the border between Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, though an initial report came in as a house fire.