Santa Cruz County Public Safety Digest

‘It’s the flats and it’s famous for flooding,” said one longtime Rio Del Mar resident who had been evacuated after massive waves hit the morning of Jan. 5.

While overnight storm conditions failed to deliver quite the promised wallop to the county, coastal areas began taking a heavy beating.

The city of Santa Cruz is turning the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium into an emergency shelter site.

The interactive map has a slider bar allowing the comparison of the previous assessment of susceptibility to wildfire with the proposed changes.

Cal Fire will hold public comment hearings in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties this month as part of the process of revising Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps.

There are several things conspiring to make wood smoke a problem this time of year, the weather for one. Cold atmospheric conditions create inversion layers that trap air close to the ground.

The Eel River Valley—which includes the towns of Rio Dell, Fortuna and Ferndale—has thousands of people without power and 3,400 residents in Rio Dell still lack water after the 6.4 magnitude temblor.

The quake caused at least two injuries and damaged structures, roads and utility lines.

Higher monthly bills might jolt PG&E customers in the wake of the utility's request for additional revenue due to the company's spending on wildfire mitigation and catastrophic events.

Facing a mental health crisis, Cal Fire crews sought less of a workload. But they have to wait two years under their new contract.

Deep into consolidation talks with a neighboring fire agency, the Branciforte Fire Protection District is seeking to fill one—if not two—board leadership vacancies.

Moderate weather and well-timed rainstorms in much of California combined to curb the acreage and structures burned.

Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control workers discovered an adult mosquito on Oct. 12 in Interlaken, marking the first sighting within county borders. By Nov. 7, they’d found or trapped 22 others.

Planning for "prescribed burns" is critical, but also time consuming and cumbersome.

While law enforcement converged on Santa Cruz High School last for what turned out to be a false school shooting report, a similar response played out at an emergency room four miles away. “Within about 30 minutes, we had over 100 providers who had reported to the emergency room, ready to serve,” Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz said.

State regulators plan to impose a $155.4 million fine against PG&E Corp. over the Zogg Fire, which killed four people in Shasta County. PG&E is already under criminal indictment in the fire, and has pleaded innocent to manslaughter and other charges.

Though their diminished numbers hamper local wildfire response, real-life incarcerated firefighters are still on the front lines in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Gas stoves in California homes are leaking cancer-causing benzene, researchers found in a new study, though they say more research is needed to understand how many homes have leaks.

A study by researchers at UCLA and the University of Chicago says that California’s wildfires of 2020 destroyed 4.2 million acres of forest—and erased years of progress the state made on battling climate change.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, trying to ease an insurance crisis that’s hurt rural California, has announced that all carriers active in fire-prone communities must incorporate his “Safer from Wildfires” program into their premiums.

According to the first in a series of reports to come from a consulting firm hired by California officials, PG&E’s efforts to improve wildfire safety are hindered by aging equipment, damaged power poles and hazardous trees that went undetected by the utility’s crews.

One of California’s top elected officials announced steps to limit how developments can be built in areas that are at highest risk of wildfire. Attorney General Rob Bonta released guidelines for local governments to follow when they are deciding whether to approve subdivisions in the “wildland urban interface.”

Low water levels, warm temperatures and off-season rain have resulted in an unusually high number of algal blooms in local lakes, creeks and lagoons, according to a release from Santa Cruz County’s Environmental Health Department.

The city of Santa Cruz Public Works department will begin its annual San Lorenzo River Maintenance Project next week to prevent “debris upstream from collecting and causing blockages downstream, which could cause infrastructure problems.”

Local law enforcement and public safety agencies put out the welcome mat Aug. 2 for this year’s National Night Out celebrations. The Santa Cruz Police Department turned its parking lot into a hub for numerous agencies and organizations.

Fire crews continued their mop-up work after Cal Fire San Benito-Monterey Unit reported 100% containment of the Anzar Fire. The 104-acre fire, which broke out July 21 near the Aromas Granite Quarry, claimed two structures.

The California Highway Patrol is marking the two-decade anniversary of the Amber Alert system. Hundreds of abducted children have been found and returned safely to their families following its implementation in 2002.

Dr. Ronald Li, a veterinarian at UC Davis, treated 23 cats rescued from the Tubbs fire in 2017. In addition to the expected traumatic injuries, something else caught Li’s attention. “We noticed clots forming within their hearts,” he said. “But at that time, we didn’t know why.”

Nate Armstrong has gotten got a big increase in funding to prepare for what’s ahead. But with an unending fire season, the head of the Cal Fire unit covering Santa Cruz County has more questions than answers.

The city of Santa Cruz is set to start construction of the San Lorenzo River Lagoon Culvert Project, which will address three issues: flooding, public safety and habitat protection. Project completion is expected this fall.

In a presentation to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, Santa Cruz County and Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit Fire Chief Nate Armstrong reviewed the state of county fire services and the outlook for 2022. In short, “It looks grim as always.”

Senate Bill 1012, a law that will require California State Parks to restrict open fires, has been unanimously passed through the Committee of Water, Parks, and Wildlife. The bill instructs parks to work with the guidelines of local fire departments. The bill could appear before the full assembly in August.