Local News

BONNY DOON (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― There was a growing sense of optimism Thursday night in the Santa Cruz Mountains as fire crews made progress battling a massive wildfire, fueled by tinder-dry forests, that sparked a state of emergency and left hundreds of residents hoping their homes would be spared from the flames.

The blaze was 25 percent contained on Thursday night and firefighters hoped to fully contain the blaze by Saturday, said Cal Fire spokesman Bill Peters.

The fast-moving Martin Fire in the Bonny Doon area, about 10 miles northwest of Santa Cruz, had burned up to 900 acres of heavy fuel and timber, including manzanita, knobcone pine and redwood trees, in less than 24 hours. It broke out around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

One firefighter at the scene Thursday evening said there was a line around the fire, and if the wind did not shift, crews could move swiftly towards containment.

The blaze had destroyed 10 structures but it was unclear how many of those were homes.

"They haven't really been able to assess exactly what has burned yet," Peters said. 

Officials had indicated that the fire threatened up to 1,000 residences, 50 commercial buildings and 50 outbuildings.
 
The number of evacuees stood at 1,700 residents in the heavily forested hills encompassing Towhee Drive, Thayer Road, Lupin Drive, Martin Road, Quail Drive, Smith Grade Road, Warren Drive, Pine Flat Road, Pine Ridge Way and Moore Ranch Road, according to the Santa Cruz County Emergency Operations Center. 

"Tomorrow the fire managers ... will begin assessing when we can
let the folks safely return to their homes," Peters said.

The blaze on Thursday burned within the parameter of Ice Cream Grade to the north, Pine Flat Road to the east, Empire Grade Road to the west and near Martin Road to the south.

Earlier in the day, fire officials had expressed concern the blaze could jump Laguna Creek, which runs along the eastern border of the fire, because the flames then will run faster on an upslope and become even more difficult to combat.

A calm, cloudless sky over the flames throughout the day proved to be a mixed blessing for the 885 firefighters involved in the battle. While the high winds from the day before had nearly died, temperatures rose quickly into the 90-degree range.

Fire crews hoped that cooler temperatures and lighter winds expected for late Thursday night and early Friday morning would help them gain control over the fire.

"We had a rather healthy increase in humidity today," Peters said. "From what it feels like it's going to stay pretty humid, and that and the cool temperature tonight will really help to keep the fire activity down." 

One minor injury was reported to a state prison inmate firefighter who was helping battle the blaze, Peters said.

The Martin Fire flared just two weeks after another blaze, the Summit Fire, two miles away scorched 4,200 acres and destroyed at least three dozen homes.

Jeanne Colbus, 60, who lives about five miles from Bonny Doon, said she and her 94-year-old mother quickly left their home after she saw smoke in the hills and received a call ordering them to evacuate.

"I was gardening and I looked up and saw that big column of smoke," Colbus said. "I'm scared. We don't have fire insurance for one thing. A lot of our things are irreplaceable."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Santa Cruz County on Thursday morning to free up additional firefighting
resources.

"The state is committed to doing whatever it takes to assist the locals and provide the resources needed to battle the Martin Fire," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Hot temperatures, steady winds and tinder-dry vegetation created conditions exactly like those that fed the earlier blaze.
 
Some residents forced to evacuate their homes near Bonny Doon left notes behind for firefighters offering water from their private pools and tanks.

"Thank you, firefighters; 12,000-gallon pool in back of house," one note taped to a mailbox on Roger Road read.

About 15 feet away, there was a home with a 5- to 8-foot cardboard sign that read "water tank." A spray painted arrow pointed to a container of water on the property.

James Eason, 28, a full-time caretaker for his quadriplegic dad Jim Eason, 63, said they spent Thursday hanging out with other evacuees in a supermarket parking lot after spending the night in a Red Cross shelter in Felton, several miles from the blaze.

On Wednesday, they evacuated their $1,300-a-month yurt, a nearly uninsulated wooden-framed structure covered in canvas where they have lived for the past three months.

They weren't able to check on their home Thursday and planned to spend another night at the shelter, which was relocated for Thursday night from San Lorenzo Valley Middle School in Felton to the Scotts Valley Middle School near the intersection of Bean Creek Road and Scotts Valley Drive. 

"It's stressful and frustrating, it makes you anxious not knowing if you're going to have a place to go back to," James Eason said.

Bonny Doon residents Dana Price, 51, and her husband Skip, 57, had just come home when they got the mandatory-evacuation call and quickly packed up their computers, musical instruments and animals two dogs, a parakeet and a cat.

"The sad thing is, as you're evacuating, you're walking around your house thinking, this might be the last time I see this picture, this might be the last time I'm doing this," she said. "It's really kind of sad. It's almost like saying goodbye."

Road closures were implemented for Bonny Doon Road, Felton Empire Road and Empire Grade Road at Smith Grade Road, Pine Flat Road and Ice Cream Grade Road at Martin Road, Alba Road at Empire Grade Road, Empire Grade Road at University of California, Santa Cruz, Ice Cream Grade Road at Pine Flat Road, Pine Flat Road at Quail Drive, and Pine Flat Road at Empire Grade Road and Morelli Ranch, according to the emergency operations center.

Evacuated livestock could be brought to the Graham Hill Showgrounds
located at 1145 Graham Hill Road in Santa Cruz. Domestic pets were to be taken to Animal Services located at 27 Janus Way in Scotts Valley or 580 Airport Blvd. in Watsonville, officials said.

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