Boulder Creek crews brace for battle as epic wildfire near

BOULDER CREEK – The volunteer firefighters who made up the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District wanted to face the challenge of their lives Wednesday: fight an unusual wildfire.

By nightfall, the so-called CZU August Lightning Complex Fire had burned an estimated 25,000 acres in the mountains of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. And Boulder Creek, a community of just 5,000 residents nestled in the middle of the Santa Cruz Mountains, was expected to be the most directly affected community entering the evening.

“This is one of the most important events in this region, and it’s potentially one of the biggest for this part of the state,” said Jonathan Cox, a spokesman for the California Department of State Forest and Fire Protection. a news conference.

Former Boulder Creek fire chief and current fire commissioner Sam Robustelli said the last time a wildfire threatened the community was in 1947, when he was 5 years old. That bubble was burning from the area that is currently on fire to the sea.

Robustelli looked at the plumes of smoke that jumped over the ridgeline Wednesday afternoon, “it’s scary.”

“We’ve had a few other fires, but nothing to that extent,” he said. “I can not remember a time when we had to evacuate the entire fire department.”

Cox said a lack of fog over the past week has been efforts to fight the fire.

“That has a big impact on our brand,” he said. “This is really that tuning of scenarios in worst cases where we had heat, we had the source of ignition and we had dry fuel. And those three in agreement, not just in Santa Cruz County and San Mateo (County), but in Northern California, have really resulted in where we are now. “

By Wednesday afternoon, the Boulder Creek Fire District was pleading with residents to evacuate.

A mandatory evacuation board was initially sent to residents Tuesday afternoon, but a second warning was repeated Wednesday.

“We are pleased with the number of residents who have been heard and evacuated,” firefighter Mark Bingham said Wednesday afternoon. “But my concern is that I still have people here who are there 24 hours after the city shipment.”

By Wednesday night, thick smoke filled the air above the small Boulder Creek strip in downtown, the ridge to the west was glowing orange and large slides began to leave the ground.

‘You see how that is at the moment? Do you see that hotspot right there? Robustelli said. “That’s one acre, two acres, three acres of wood up.”

The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District is made up entirely of volunteer firefighters – the boss is the only one who signs a salary. But they do not stand alone against the fire. Nearly 600 staff were assigned to the incident, according to Cal Fire.

“All of their training was given yesterday and used today,” Robustelli said of the volunteer firefighters.

The inferno marks the first time 19-year-old firefighter Jaden Kiel-Ribera has fought a firearm. His first shot was on Sunday, causing him to set much smaller spot fires.