By 8 tonight, California Department of Forestry (CDF)
firefighters expect to have the six fires that make up the
“Santa Clara Complex” fires, completely under control. The
fires, which had burned a total of 30,170 acres by Monday morning,
extend from Livermore to Highway 152 at Bell Station in southern
Santa Clara County. More than 2,300 people were committed to
working the fires.
By 8 tonight, California Department of Forestry (CDF) firefighters expect to have the six fires that make up the “Santa Clara Complex” fires, completely under control.
The fires, which had burned a total of 30,170 acres by Monday morning, extend from Livermore to Highway 152 at Bell Station in southern Santa Clara County. More than 2,300 people were committed to working the fires.
“Once we go through one more day and night, with the fires staying within the lines we have created, then we’ll call it (contained),” CDF Fire Prevention Specialist Chris Morgan said Monday. “Right now, the fires are 90 percent contained.”
As of Monday, Morgan said there were still 80 hand crews working the fire, each crew consisting of 17 people, and 125 engines and seven helicopters committed to the fires.
The fires have been burning for a week, starting the night of Aug. 25 as a result of an unusual electrical storm that sent lightning bolts into trees, bushes and other dry shrubs throughout the region.
The weather during the week, however, has been good from a firefighter’s point of view, Morgan said.
“It has been estimated that if the winds had been high, like they can be on the eastern side of the mountain range, that the fires could have merged together and we would have been talking about 80,000 to 100,000 acres,” he said. “The winds were fairly calm, that was our saving grace.”
Morgan said the humidity increased during the night, which “made the fire lay down a little,” assisting firefighters in their efforts.
The weather should continue to be helpful for the region and Morgan Hill. According to the national weather service, the weather will be much the same the rest of the week, with a very slight chance of showers and thunderstorms Wednesday and Wednesday night, due to moisture coming up from the south combined with a weak upper level disturbance. Temperatures will remain in the lower to mid 90’s, cooler at the coast, with lows in the area in the upper 50’s to lower 60’s.
The weather may have contributed to firefighters efforts in keeping some of the six fires to less than 1,000 acres.
The three largest fires – the Devil fire, the Annie fire and the jump fire, each presented problems for the firefighters.
The largest fire, the Annie fire, had burned 17,450 acres by Monday. Located on the Santa Clara and Stanislaus County borders east of Morgan Hill, the terrain is fire-friendly: 60 percent range land, according to Morgan, with plenty of grass and heavy brush.
“It’s steep, rugged country,” he said. “The fire burned because of fuel and topography, it just rushes up the very extreme steep slopes.”
The Annie fire was headed east towards Interstate 5, but had not reached the major north-south artery by Monday.
The jump fire had burned 6,015 acres by Monday.
“The jump fire got its name because initially, 12 U.S. Forestry Service smoke jumpers went in because the area was so remote, with no roads, no trails going in,” said Morgan.
While working the Devil fire Thursday night, 55 firefighters had to take refuge in a safety zone and use their fire shelters because the fire suddenly swept towards them. Three firefighters received the only injuries during all the fires, but the injuries were minor, not requiring medical attention. Their elbows were burned slightly by embers as they crawled into their shelters.
Firefighters were testing a new biodegradable fire retardant called “Fire and Ice” at the Devil fire; Morgan said he had not yet received an evaluation on the effectiveness of the substance.
“Fire and Ice” could be used to coat structures in the path of fires, Morgan said.
During the fires, 32 structures were threatened, including the CDF’s own Sweetwater station, Morgan said, but none were damaged.
The Devil fire had burned 5,160 acres by Monday.
The first fire, the Pine fire, had burned 263 acres by Monday morning. The second, the Hamilton fire, burned 632 acres; the Kincaid fire burned 650.
Morgan compared the fires, which have cost $8.3 million so far to fight, to last summer’s Croy fire, which cost approximately $8 million to fight and burned more than 3,000 acres.
“It was a completely different fire,” he said. “There you had structures involved, people, animals. These fires have had much less of those kinds of complications, but have been difficult to reach.”
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