What the hell is going on with the world lately? Earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, and more fires. You think God is trying to tell us something?
It is so hot today that I'm melting and that rarely happens. I fear for our Disneyland trip next weekend. Alex is going to die and take me with him.
Adding insult to heat injury there is yet another fire in Santa Cruz. This one apparently cause my an asshole arsonist. Why the fuck would you do something like that? Why? And on a day that is as hot as it is today. The fire is right on the coast and besides being able to see the smoke plume from my driveway , I can smell it.
They need to find the dude who started it and drop him into it by the military copters that are circling over our housing right now.
BREAKING NEWS: Fires lines Highway 1 from Mar Monte to Airport Boulevard
Sentinel Staff Report
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Article Launched:06/20/2008 02:27:30 PM PDT
SOUTH COUNTY - In what may have been a blaze started intentionally by a motorist heading north on Highway 1, fire broke out from the Airport Boulevard exit all the way to Mar Monte Avenue just before 2 p.m.
According to emergency dispatchers, callers reported a motorist set spot fires at four or five areas along the freeway about 20 feet apart, which quickly spread. At 2:15 p.m., residents at 134 Trabing Road called to say fire surrounded their house and they were trapped inside.
Paul Van Gerwen, the Cal Fire spokesman, said the fire has burned about 100 acres and is moving north, northeast.
"Structures are imminent," Van Gerwen said.
Cal Fire called in numerous air and ground support, Van Gerwen said.
Stretches of Highway 1 from the junction of Highway 152 to five miles north of that. The highway is gridlocked due to the fire and offramp closures.
Dispatchers at 3:15 p.m. said there may be children trapped on the rood of a house on the 800 block of Buena Vista Drive. Firefighters were responding to the area.
Firefighters have been evacuating a host of roads on the north side of Highway 1 in South County. At 3:20 p.m. emergency dispatchers said there would be mandatory evacuations on the north side of the freeway from Airport Boulevard to Freedom Boulevard inland to Highway 1 as well as both sides of Calabasas Road.
Just before 4 p.m. fire cross Buena Vista and Larkin Valley and was headed toward the airport and was headed toward the neighborhood near that neighborhood and Manfre Road. Multiple spot fires were reported in that area also.
People were being evacuated to Aptos High School. An ambulance was called to the staging area at Trabing Road and Buena Vista Drive for a person suffering from smoke inhalation and chest pain.
Firefighters said fire was burning along both sides of the 400 block of Trabing Road, which is just off the Buena Vista exit of Highway 1, running parallel to the freeway.
Officials were evacuating Larkin Valley Road to Buena Vista and Trabing Road. At 2:45 p.m., emergency crews were calling residents on Larkin Valley Road and Larkin Vista Lane on the north side of Highway 1, ordering them to evacuate. When asked if they were mandatory evacuations, a dispatcher said "Yes, they are on fire."
Reverse 911 calls were made to residents along Mar Monte to Buena Vista to Larkin Valley Road. Fire is blocking the road at 320 Larkin Valley Road about 3:10 p.m. Officials were beginning to evacuate Old Adobe Road at 3:10 p.m.
At about 3 p.m., the CHP was shutting down Highway 1 at the exits for Highway 129, Freedom Boulevard, Airport Boulevard and Buena Vista Avenue, according to emergency dispatchers.
Huge plumes of gray smoke could be seen from all over the county as the fire raged on the north side of the freeway.
Firefighters could be heard over emergency channels saying they were implementing "bump and run" techniques and structures were down. Some structures were going up in flames and fire fighters were hoping to get help in to save some of them along Larkin Valley.
Jim Graham, who drove through Larkin Valley, said the fire is moving through the tops of the eucalyptus trees. He said people are evacuating animals with trailers.
"They are packing animals into trailers and some people are walking their animals down the road," Graham said.
Serafin Villanueva, who lives on the 600 block of Larkin Valley Road, said "I can see a lot of smoke. I can see some flames. My sister's friend's dad told me the fire jumped the road and I had to get out. I took precautions. I grabbed everything I could."
Just after 3 p.m. emergency dispatchers warned firefighters to evacuate themselves first if they felt they were in danger of the fast-moving fire.
Officials had no estimate of the acreage of the fire and all available units on scene, at one point leaving the city of Watsonville without coverage.
Fire units were en route from Santa Clara County at 3:20 p.m. to help fight the fire.
Norman Black, who was driving along Buena Vista Road and spotted some fires along the road, said he and a county worker tried to put them out.
"It just went woof. It just went crazy, the wind started to blow."
Natalie Batad and her sister Felicia Trujillo who live near the intersection of Buena Vista and Larkin Valley, were waiting for her with their dog Toby with bags of clothing.
Sentinel photographer Shmuel Thaler said "It's crazy."
2 comments:
That is so awful. :( People are so horrible sometimes.
Yep. And I had to see it first hand. Ray drove by it later in the day on his way home from work and was in tears because it was so terrible. The arson will get what's coming to him.
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