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Okay I’m getting ready to livetweet the #CZULightningComplex press conference as best I can, the live feeds from Cal Fire have not been great and the news channels have been switching away before the questions start, I’ll give you whatever information I can.
About 65k people evacuated
1k personnel at the scene
Cal Fire Incident Management Team 3
1k personnel at the scene
Cal Fire Incident Management Team 3
Western edge is being helped by some marine layer, but east face not good. More structures lost throughout the fire, but also some good saves from fire and law enforcement.
Just a warning from me: based on radar and satellite I expect Boulder Creek to be bad.
Just a warning from me: based on radar and satellite I expect Boulder Creek to be bad.
YIKES PEOPLE DON'T GO INTO THE AREA TO TRY TO HELP
DO NOT DO THAT
THEY HAD TO RESCUE 3 “HELPERS”
DO NOT DO THAT
THEY HAD TO RESCUE 3 “HELPERS”
KSBW switching away, which indicates how much useful information they're giving us.
They're really empasizing that people need to stay OUT of the evac zone, WOW DO PEOPLE NEED TO EVACUATE AND STAY OUT PLEASE
That is so dangerous.
They're really empasizing that people need to stay OUT of the evac zone, WOW DO PEOPLE NEED TO EVACUATE AND STAY OUT PLEASE
That is so dangerous.
How long should people expect to be evacuated? Potentially weeks (I’d personally plan for two).
If you have animals, call animal control because animal control can go up and rescue your pet without making life hard for first responders.
If you have animals, call animal control because animal control can go up and rescue your pet without making life hard for first responders.
San Mateo evacuated west of 35 to Hwy 1, lots of cars were still going IN to the coastal towns which makes it hard to evacuate and also FIGHT THE FIRE
Need to go to San Mateo events center, High School is full. Fire on both sides of highway one.
Need to go to San Mateo events center, High School is full. Fire on both sides of highway one.
Cal Fire rep notes that some of these areas may not have ever burned on record, this is bad.
They are having to take firefighters away from the line to rescue people returning to the evac zone, this means IF YOU GO INTO THE EVAC ZONE YOU ARE ENDANGERING PEOPLE'S HOUSES AND LIVES
They are having to take firefighters away from the line to rescue people returning to the evac zone, this means IF YOU GO INTO THE EVAC ZONE YOU ARE ENDANGERING PEOPLE'S HOUSES AND LIVES
If you're close to the fire but haven't been ordered out, be ready to go.
Q&A starts
Q: how do you decide what to defend?
A:We can't save everything, we triage between priorities based on situation, lives come first.
Q&A starts
Q: how do you decide what to defend?
A:We can't save everything, we triage between priorities based on situation, lives come first.
HEY REMEMBER WHAT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYS ABOUT DEFENSIBLE SPACE?
People who have taken the time to do this have a better chance of getting their house saved, because it's less dangerous for the firefighters.
People who have taken the time to do this have a better chance of getting their house saved, because it's less dangerous for the firefighters.
Q; Where are the additional resources coming from?
A: State level. All over. Some other states.
No word on prisoners, but you can assume Cal Fire is using prison labor on all its fires.
A: State level. All over. Some other states.
No word on prisoners, but you can assume Cal Fire is using prison labor on all its fires.
Q: Air support?
A: There are helos assigned, but smoke conditions are making it hard to run the air support, smoke is very bad. We don't have full air capability because of so many fires.
[I’ll try to find some air support resources and link to them in a later Tweet]
A: There are helos assigned, but smoke conditions are making it hard to run the air support, smoke is very bad. We don't have full air capability because of so many fires.
[I’ll try to find some air support resources and link to them in a later Tweet]
Q: Injuries?
A: Still holding at 3 injured firefighters.
Q: How are ff doing?
A: Well, they’ve been fighting the fire since Sunday, [so tired I would assume] but this is our job, we do 24 hour shifts and we want to protect the community.
A: Still holding at 3 injured firefighters.
Q: How are ff doing?
A: Well, they’ve been fighting the fire since Sunday, [so tired I would assume] but this is our job, we do 24 hour shifts and we want to protect the community.
Q: UCSC status?
A: Fire is about a mile north of twin gates but we don't have exact details of the burn area nearby. Can't confirm number of evacuees
Q: Is Covid impacting response?
A: Crew numbers are down because inmates have Covid. That's how it is. Local crews working hard.
A: Fire is about a mile north of twin gates but we don't have exact details of the burn area nearby. Can't confirm number of evacuees
Q: Is Covid impacting response?
A: Crew numbers are down because inmates have Covid. That's how it is. Local crews working hard.
Lightning caused 367 fires in the state, obviously that makes life difficult.
Q: If people refuse to leave, are they being removed?
A: Sheriff's department is in charge, theyr'e avoiding force unless people are in the way, and YOU CANNOT COME BACK IN
Q: If people refuse to leave, are they being removed?
A: Sheriff's department is in charge, theyr'e avoiding force unless people are in the way, and YOU CANNOT COME BACK IN
Q: Worst case scenario?
A: Well, this is pretty much it, this is as many evacs as we expected to see. “I'm tired of saying historic, I'm tired of saying I've never seen something like this”
Q; Weather today?
A: Most favorable since event began. Coastal influence, humidity up
A: Well, this is pretty much it, this is as many evacs as we expected to see. “I'm tired of saying historic, I'm tired of saying I've never seen something like this”
Q; Weather today?
A: Most favorable since event began. Coastal influence, humidity up
Next 48 hours will be better weather conditions, afterwards bad weather comes back, so ff sees this 48 hour period as a window of opportunity.
Q: objectives?
A: Life, property conservation/structure defense, establish lines. Have established line on S part of fire to protect SC
Q: objectives?
A: Life, property conservation/structure defense, establish lines. Have established line on S part of fire to protect SC
Presser over.
What I found notable:
First of all, thank you to @CALFIRECZU for improving the quality of their feed, I watched this on Facebook and the sound was good and feed was clear. (Periscope/Twitter not as good.) Credit where credit is due.
First of all, thank you to @CALFIRECZU for improving the quality of their feed, I watched this on Facebook and the sound was good and feed was clear. (Periscope/Twitter not as good.) Credit where credit is due.
The note at the end about establishing a fire control line on the southern end is VERY GOOD NEWS for UCSC and the west side of Santa Cruz proper. with this news, weather, and what I'm seeing on sat/radar I'm feeling much better about West Santa Cruz. Yay!
They did not say anything concrete about the San Lorenzo Valley, and I don't think this is good news. News coverage is highlighting destruction in Boulder Creek, I’ve seen a lot about it on Twitter, and I also don't see good news for Boulder Creek on sat and radar. I'm sorry.
No word about Brookdale or Ben Lomond. I know that the fire reached Ben Lomond town at Alba and Hwy9, but I also know that the dt Ben Lomond area around the market is decently defensible space so I'm sure they're fighting it hard in that area and I haven't heard any new bad news
No word on Felton, I need to check again but I believe the winds have shifted and I don't know if there's such a threat to Felton center as there was yesterday morning. Again, I need to check the wind data but I'm less worried about Felton than I was.
Area above Felton around Empire Grade - no idea about structures or boundaries, but if you're above Lime Kilns I know it has been very bad up there and I don't know how far below Lime Kilns the fire has gotten.
I don't know anything about Davenport, I'm hoping that Davenport is still okay, and they did mention that the West face of the fire was helped by marine layer so I'm feeling better about the west coastal area that hasn't burned yet.
That's my presser update for now.
That's my presser update for now.
