Loma Fire grows, more resources coming in
Crews from all over the state are in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties battling the 2,250-acre Loma Fire, which is burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, ten miles northwest from Morgan Hill.
The fire started Monday afternoon, just before 3 p.m.
The incident command center is at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. It’s where nearly 900 firefighters will call home until the fire is over. Crews from as north as Redding and as south as San Diego are helping on the front lines.
On Wednesday, command of the fire will turn to a Type 1 Incident Management Team. It opens up more resources for the firefighting effort. Currently there are 86 fire engines, 29 fire crews, 11 helicopters, 19 dozers and 9 water tenders.
One home and six outbuildings have been destroyed, one home has been damaged. According to Cal Fire, mandatory evacuations are in place for the Loma Prieta ridgeline area, including tributary roads along Summit Road from Soquel San Jose to Ormsby Fire Station. There are also evacuation orders for Uvas Canyon County Park, Loma Chiquita, Casa Loma, Loma Prieta Way, Highland Road and Mount Bache Road. Portions of Croy Road are under a warning.
Crews aren’t just battling the fire burning in the Loma Prieta/Loma Chiquita areas, they’re battling the elements.
“The high temperatures have an effect on fatigue and the production rate of the crews, inevitably,” said Brian Oliver, a public information officer assigned to the Loma Fire.
The steep, rugged terrain is home to vegetation that has been virtually untouched for decades.
“A lot of brush that’s had the opportunity to grow for the last 20 plus years, which is the last time there’s been any significant fire activity,” Oliver said. “The fire activity that was there in those times was held to a few hundred acres, not into the thousands.”
Crews are trying to keep the fire from spreading to the Uvas Canyon area. This is where Sara Lee has called home for the past five months. She left Monday night when it started to rain ash on her home, taking with her, her beloved pets. But she came back.
“Met this lady and she still had dogs and cats and things in the house, medicine, she was in a nightgown, so we came back here to get her stuff once we found out the road was open,” Lee said.
Right now it’s open to resident’s only. Other road closures include Loma Chiquita Road, Summit Road from Soquel San Jose to Pole Line Road, Mount Bache Road at Highland Road, Casa Loma Road at McKean/Uvas, Mount Madonna at Ormsby Road and Mount Madonna Road at Pole Line Road.
On Tuesday, PG&E crews identified power poles that are threatened by the fire. Crews trimmed back vegetation around the poles and sprayed them down with retardant to protect them. Spokeswoman Mayra Tostado said crews hoped to do this to about 100 power poles in the area. But they haven’t been able to restore power to the nearly 200 customers just yet.
“We haven’t been able to go in and assess,” Tostado said. “We’ve been waiting for Cal Fire to give us the green light, but we do have crews stationed and ready to go in when they do allow us to do so.”
