Local News

BONNY DOON (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Hundred of firefighters battled a growing wildfire Thursday that forced about 2,400 people in the Santa Cruz Mountains to leave their homes, including the entire community of Bonny Doon.

The Lockheed Fire, which started around 7 p.m. Wednesday, had scorched nearly 3,000 acres, or 4.4 square miles, in Santa Cruz County, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

The blaze, about 10 miles north of the coastal city of Santa Cruz, threatened more than 1,000 homes and other buildings and was zero percent contained as of Thursday night.

Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday for all of Bonny Doon, which has about 2,000 residents and several wineries, said CalFire spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson.

Everyone also was ordered to leave the nearby community of Swanton, where about 400 people live.

"It's a significant fire that is burning in a rural, inaccessible, steep terrain with vegetation that has been stressed by the drought," Hutchinson said. "It's like having firewood in your fireplace that's dry and ready to burn."

State fire officials said more than 300 firefighters were battling windy conditions to attack the blaze, which was working its way toward Bonny Doon.

Additional fire crews from throughout the state were called to assist and Cal Fire said it had also requested additional engines, dozers and aircraft.

The blaze was about three miles from the site of last year's Martin Fire, which burned 520 acres and destroyed 11 buildings in the Bonny Doon area in June 2008.

There were no reports of injuries or property damage so far related to this year's fire, whose cause is under investigation, said the CalFire spokeswoman.

Police officers went door to door Thursday as residents watered down their homes, aiming sprinklers and hoses at the rooftops. They loaded bicycles, pets, computers and other valuables into their cars and trucks.

Many had to evacuate last year when flames threatened the area.

Nancy Macallister said she was disappointed about the mandatory evacuation but added that it was reasonable.

"The fire's big, the fire's hot, there's some rough terrain and the winds should be coming this direction, so it makes sense. They're trying to keep people safe," she said.

A shelter for evacuees was set up at Vintage Faith Church located at 350 Mission St. in Santa Cruz, where Linda Lemaster arrived Thursday after leaving her house on Last Chance Road near Swanton.

When she got a recorded call to evacuate, she grabbed some of her son's paintings, photos, bedding and some food, she said. Her boyfriend stayed behind to take care of the cats and property.

As she drove away, she saw thick smoke and flames.

"I thought of volcano lava the way it was moving in through the trees," said Lemaster, 60. "If it had kept going like that, it would have headed right to my house."

Rachel Beauregard, co-owner of Beauregard Vineyards in Bonny Doon, said the winery was just getting ready for the harvest.

"We're really nervous right now," said Beauregard, who had to evacuate Thursday. "Even if the vines don't get burned, there's the smoke taint aspect. A big fire could hurt us either way."

Sharon Smith, the principal of Pacific Elementary School in the community of Davenport, was also among those having to find a place to stay after being forced to leave her home on Last Chance Road -- where she has lived for the last 38 years.

Smith described the blaze as an out-of-control and quickly progressing "wall of fire."

"If you can imagine the very largest grove of redwood trees completely on fire, that's what we were seeing," Smith said.

Smith said, however, that she was not worried about her house, and commended Cal Fire crews who she said were making every effort to protect homes.

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