Wildfires Near Santa Cruz, California, May Burn Up to 10,000 Acres

WATSONVILLE, California, May 22 - Wildfires that have burned more than 3,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains are beginning to be contained as of this evening, according to KSBW-TV, the NBC affiliate for Santa Cruz County.

A shift in wind direction late this afternoon aided firefighters, who have been battling the blaze in rugged terrain between Mount Madonna and the community of Corralitos in Santa Cruz County. Reports indicate that the fires may burn up to 10,000 acres by this weekend.

I became aware of the fire at 7 a.m. this morning, when my son's friend called him to ask why ash was falling on their high school. The high school is 25 miles south of the fires, across Monterey Bay, but because the strong prevailing winds were blowing that way, smoke and ash were billowing for great distances. By afternoon, smoke was covering the mountains of the Salinas Valley, so much so that they could not be seen.

The fire started around 5:30 a.m. this morning; the exact cause is still not known.

Gusty winds, from 25 to 35 mph throughout the day, whipped the fire from a few hundred acres up to 3,000 by this evening. Twelve structures including 10 homes have been burned, and up to 500 houses continue to be threatened. Very low humidity in addition to the winds are making it a challenging fire to fight. In fact, at one point during the afternoon, KGO-AM reported that tanker planes might not be able to drop fire retardant if the winds continued to blow so strongly. However, this did not happen, and planes continued to roar overhead throughout the day.

I know this area well, since I've lived in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area most of my life, and lived in Corralitos when I was a kid. Corralitos is beautiful, but hilly and filled with oak trees, brush and grassy fields. Last week's heat wave dried out the plant material until it was tinder-dry. Then winds began to whip up yesterday. It's an ideal recipe for wildfires to start, although so early in the season is unusual for this area.