Santa Cruz residents speak out about fire concerns
Residents living near Pogonip Park in Santa Cruz got a scare on Tuesday after a vegetation fire ignited overnight.
Luckily, fire crew quickly contained the flames before there was any major damage, but even a small brush fire can cause a lot of worry for people living nearby. Especially true with so many destructive still burning across the state.
“I mean it’s terrifying,” said Corinne Stroh, a Santa Cruz resident who lives near Pogonip Park. “My husband and I talk regularly about our escape plans and we live on a dead end road and how are we going to get the pets out and will our neighbors help? It’s constant.”
Another woman says she saw the fire trucks roll through.
“I think I felt like if it was a fire, well first of all I said a prayer, then I said well I saw a red truck so at least somebody knows about it,” said Donna Felich.
Felich has been living at a home near the park since 1993. She says watching all the news of fires across the state makes her worried.
“Definitely, I am very concerned,” she said. “I mean I’ve lived here for almost 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like this ever.”
Cal Fire, along with about 50 other firefighters helped contain the two-acre fire at Pogonip Park. Officials say it was started by a cooking fire at a campsite.
“I wish that more was being done to control illegal campfires in Santa Cruz, not just in my backyard, but in everyone’s backyard, at the beach, in the forest, it’s just there’s too much to lose,” said Stroh.
And that is why fire officials say you need to be prepared.
“Just have a plan, make sure we have food for the animals ready to go, make sure that our vehicles have gas, and I guess pray because, you know, what else can you do?” said Stroh.
The Santa Cruz Fire Department is reminding everyone that the state is very dry and facing other extreme fire conditions, so unsafe fires or open flames should be avoided.
