Santa Cruz County Public Safety Digest

Official updated information from WatchDuty about the Eaton Fire in Southern California.

Official updated information from WatchDuty about the Palisades Fire in Southern California.

Donate to the list of organizations put together by Lookout Local to support victims of the fires still raging in Southern California.

State prisoners have long been a part of California’s firefighting force. Hundreds of them now are deployed in Los Angeles County.

After days of sniping back and forth with President-elect Donald Trump over California’s handling of the fires ravaging Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom today invited the incoming Republican president to visit the state and survey the damage.

As climate change warms the planet, wildfires have become so unpredictable and extreme that new words were invented: firenado, gigafire, fire siege — even fire pandemic. California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago. When is California’s wildfire season? It is now almost year-round.

President-elect Donald Trump faulted California water policies for the devastating wildfires that are burning in Los Angeles County. The fires started because of fierce winds and extremely dry conditions.

The federal government typically covers 75% of rebuilding costs after a major disaster. President-elect Trump has threatened to withhold firefighting money from California.

Learn more about the Mobile Crisis Response Teams being deployed by Santa Cruz County to provide mental health services throughout the county.

UCSC Professor Gary Griggs recounts a histories of the tsunamis which have struck the City of Santa Cruz. Read on to learn more, and about his thought on tsunami risk computer models.

An after-action interview with City of Santa Cruz lifeguards Isaiah Mullen and Sam Hofmann following their rescue of two construction workers when the end of the wharf collapsed.

The mayor and city manager of Santa Cruz held a December 27 press conference and provided details about damage to the wharf, noting that a structural assessment would be required to determine when and if it would be safe to reopen. Read to learn more.

Learn more about how officials describe the damage from ocean swells to the municipal wharf and harbor.

There is no estimate in when the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf will be reopened. Read on for the latest update on the partial collapse and next steps.

The Scotts Valley City Council has approved a resolution declaring a local emergency following a tornado that surprised the city during stormy weather on a Saturday afternoon earlier this month.

Keith Poulsen's jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.

Cal Fire is taking applications for Camp Cinder, a free four-day, three-night immersive firefighter camp for young women ages 15-17. The program, led by women firefighters and offered June 23-26 in Shasta and San Luis Obispo, will teach rope skills, water rescues, hose movement, leadership and more,

As the first serious case of bird flu in a human is reported and more dairy herds across the state are infected, California Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency. Read on to learn what that entails.

Lookout Local asked a meteorologist to learn why the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for San Francisco, where a tornado failed to appear, and not Scotts Valley, where a tornado touched down on December 14. Read on to learn the answer.

City officials estimate over $100,000 in damages from the December 14 tornado which touched down in Scotts Valley. Read on to learn more about next steps.

Read on to learn more about the tornado in Scotts Valley on Saturday afternoon, causing injuries, flipping cars and closing Mount Herman Road.

Are food recalls on the rise? Yes. Read on to learn more.

Learn more about the California State Parks prescribed burns in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and the CalFire prescribed burns in the Soquel Demonstration State Forest scheduled to begin in December.

Read this explainer about how road repair in Santa Cruz County is funded, and why repairs from the 2017 and 2023 winter storms are taking so long.

Learn how fire districts are moving forward in the wake of the defeat of Scotts Valley Fire Department's Measure S and Central Fire District's Measure R in the November election.

Bird flu has been spreading among dairy workers in California’s Central Valley, jumping from cows to people. A new suspected case in the Bay Area came from an unknown source.

The invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitos have been detected in more areas of Santa Clara County, prompting officials to hold meetings to discuss their response to the threat posed by the species. 

Santa Cruz mountains residents are able to more easily come and go thanks to a temporary road built over the slow moving Mountain Charlie Road landslide.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 2 to celebrate the beginning of work to repair a 10-mile stretch of levee on the Pajaro River.

A look at Measure Q, the Water and Wildfire Protection Tax on the November ballot and comments from those in favor of the measure and some surprising opposition.

Applications are open through October 31 to Santa Cruz County residents for reimbursement of wood chipping costs under the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County's Neighborhood Chipping Program.

At a CalMatters event, California’s insurance commissioner says the changes he’s making will help homeowners and business owners. One idea: A state grant for those who spend money to protect their property from wildfires.