 Well, good evening. This is the 6 p.m. Press Conference here on the CZU complex My name is Jonathan Cox deputy chief for Cal Fire San Mateo Santa Cruz unit and line officer here on the incident As always if you commute your cell phones Please take any conversations away from the press conference area and keep your masks on at all times It would be greatly appreciated. We will have time after the end of the speakers to answer any questions You might have individually Just a quick update this evening as of 6 p.m. We have Confirmed 84,760 acres have been consumed by this fire The good news is we can also confirm that we're up to 37 percent containment on the incident There are still over 6,700 structures that are threatened by the fire and Fortunately new numbers this evening. We can confirm 1,281 structures have been destroyed by the incident of those 1,281 structures 20 are in San Mateo County six of those single-family residents in San Mateo County In Santa Cruz County 1,261 structures have been destroyed 811 of those are single-family residents. We have over 2100 firefighting personnel on the fire line now And the incident is now continuing to go from the mitigation phase into that recovery phase as we increase the containment For an operations update cow fire incident management team three operations section chief Mark Brunner Good evening. So again another great day of progress on our fire In our north zone. We have continued Suppression activities Patana Park area Fires continue to work its way down to our control lines and in some areas. We've done some small burnout operations to help Make that more effective and expedite that process so that we can get in and do some control efforts and extinguishment In that area. So a lot of work there. We've been able to shift a lot of resources into that area From the other parts of the fire a lot of that hand crew work very steep terrain and also very heavily Forced to type area a lot of fuels in that area So a lot of work to be done in that To make it safe and to put direct control line around that part of the fire So for the coming days a lot of work is going to be concentrated in that area moving down the highway one corridor again It's looking a lot really good We're doing a lot of mop up the highway one Corridor is still closed as far as highway one Caltrans in their work in along with the utility companies continue to make that render that safe And so that's been an ongoing process But we want to make sure everything's safe before that opens up can be a dab and pours been Repopulated out for a good day So people are kind of getting their lives back to normal in that area and we're continuing to do a patrol and mop up the surrounding areas There southern end of the fire is looking really good. I've gotten that buttoned up and continued mop up Moving up the highway nine corridor Community feltons repopulated and we're continuing to mop up around there And then we are we've repopulated certain areas up into the Ben Lohman community And we have line a control line up all the way past community of Boulder Creek and We're continuing to improve that line Continue mop aggressive mop up. We are having a lot of roll-out of materials, which means the burn materials It's very steep and even with our control lines Rules down into and then over our control lines. So with the heavy patrol and mop up going on there They're picking that stuff up with the population Repopulating in those areas. We're seeing a lot of smokes and getting calls for service We've expected that we know that's going to happen as the weather gets hotter and drier and talking with our instant meteorologist That's going to happen mid to late week where we're going to see the wind change to a northerly push We're going to see hotter drier conditions and with that We are going to see a significant increase in those nuisance smokes Which will cause a significant call of service for us So even though we're aggressively mopping that up these things are going to pop up with this type of fuel In this forced to type area heavy duff. We're going to continue to see that So we're going to be very aggressive in our mop up in and be prepared for those calls of service that we're going to get Continuously for the coming time the community of Bonnie Dune Again a lot of hard work in there and we still have a lot of work to do The utility companies are in there aggressively getting their infrastructure put back in place Our road groups are going and clearing the roads We still have that problem and we will have the problem of the fire week in trees that are coming down And that causing a safety concern not only to our personnel But potential public that may be in those areas and that again That's why we have those areas still evacuated because it is still very dangerous there along with the ash pits from the fire that's been burning over the period of the past week and a half or so and Again, we're trying to render render those safe so that when we do move the population back in that it's as safe as it possibly can be The weather again we had the heavy marine layer Which did not allow our aircraft to fly like as much as we'd like it to but they were able to fly in the afternoon times We had a lot of missions that they flew for us and they dropped as of right now about an hour ago About 55,000 gallons of water Not as good we had earlier in the week But it's it's an improvement from what we've been seeing the past few days and as the weather continues to get better We have better air for our aircraft to fly We're going to get more of those missions in so that they can take care of those internal hotspots where our crews can't reach and then more Importantly to support our ground crews that are on the ground in their mission to Extend this fire so we're getting another day closer to Success and our folks are continually and hardly are working hard to accomplish that mission. Thank you Speaking next from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office is Ashley King Every day that we can come up here and say that we were able to bring people back home is a good day for us So luckily we can say today that we did bring some of the community of Ben Lohman home Also other areas of Felton and Zion T and we're continuing to re-evaluate these zones on a daily Basis and want to make sure that zone is completely safe before we bring people back in there As far as calls go we received five suspicious circumstances and one welfare check over the past day and last night We are still just out one missing person's case so that our Detectives are still working on as far as staffing we had 53 deputies and officers patrolling those evacuated zones and also the newly repopulated zones today and we're looking at 60 plus deputies and officers tonight One last thing I want to address is some people have expressed concerns about the burned areas and homeowners who Lost their homes in this fire are worried that other people might be able to get back up there to sift through their things Before they are able to and we want to make sure you know that's not going to happen We're going to have deputies and officers up there patrolling those areas making sure Anyone that isn't supposed to be up there Isn't up there and and we just want people to know that We're gonna continue to be here until this is over with. Thank you Speaking next from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is Lieutenant Del Porto. Good evening. Just a few things for San Mateo County We're continuing our safety and security checks in our coastal communities. We have 36 people patrolling the affected areas I'd also like to remind people who do not live or work on the south coast of San Mateo County to please avoid the area We're trying to keep the roads clear for emergency personnel and utility vehicles who are Repairing the roads and trying to repair our infrastructure. So we would appreciate that. That's all I have. Thank you Speaking next on behalf of all the unified incident commanders here on the incident is Cal Fire Incident Management Team 3 IC Billy C Hey, good evening Obviously each day we continue to progress and take several steps forward and the mitigation of this incident Over the coming weeks, there's going to be lots of smoke production in different areas That have burned that's well interior Our firefighters currently are engaged on the perimeter Aggressively mopping those areas up so we can safely get the majority of folks back home as soon as possible With that said today We brought in nearly 300 men and women from the California National Guard to bolster the firefighting efforts and the containment efforts Going on on this incident. They're going to be deployed Over the next three weeks with us and working diligently to ensure that we secure our lines and make it safe for everyone out there to return home Obviously when we move through the recovery process The counties of both in San Mateo and Santa Cruz are going to be actively involved in assuring the roadways are clear and Ensuring the infrastructure is improved and maintained to get phones folks back at home And there's going to be more information here shortly by the next speaker related to a lot of that and the steps that they can do Moving forward from this Speaking next on behalf of the Cal Fire San Mateo Santa Cruz unit is unit chief Ian Larkin Good evening As you as you heard tonight another good day Each day every little win that we get is a measurement of success on trying to mitigate this incident As you heard our containment went up. We're starting to get Residents back into their homes and back to some sort of a normalcy With that you heard that you know, there are going to be smokes in and around the control lines So people need to be village vigilant about that We're going to have resources in there as it was stated making sure that those are contained mopped up appropriately and Those situations are mitigated. I just do want to remind everybody that we are still very early in our fire season It's just the end of August. We're typically just getting into what we consider our normal fire season or our window of opportunity for Having a fire events of this magnitude that we just had basically from September into mid October So I still want to remind people to be vigilant as we complete this this incident and Get it mitigated that we still have that potential. So be vigilant For those that are in the affected fire areas, you know, we do have a weather coming in this next week So just be ready to go as we said, you know, make sure you've got your things in order your your bags pack just in the event that We do have a either a flare-up on this or a new event occur somewhere in That the area or within the unit So we just want to make sure everybody's vigilant on that and listen to the reports if you haven't go to The netcom or the Santa Cruz regional 9-1-1 and register for your code red Subscription so that you can get activated in those events that a reverse 9-1-1 needs to be implemented the other thing I want to just mention today, I had an opportunity to go to the Resource Recovery Center, which you're going to hear more about It was a nice surprise to see how many folks were out there taking advantage of getting a head start Even though they may not know their structures have been damaged or destroyed or if it has been destroyed they're they're seeking assistance in that recovery process and starting to move forward to make sure that they have What's available to them as far as resources moving past this so And I can't stress enough that those are still out there be a very vigilant in your Surroundings of the trees or you know some of the areas are 15 days into fire Impaction and are very dangerous and that could come down without any warning So be safe out there and we'll continue to work for the citizens to get this mitigated Our final speaker this evening with some important information about the recovery process from the Santa Cruz County CoC is Jason Hoppin. Thank you as Chief Larkin said our Recovery Resource Center is going strong Would encourage anyone that was impacted by the fire to go down there and see the services that are available It's at the Kaiser arena in downtown Santa Cruz. It's open 11 to 7 every day If you can't make it down there We've tried to put together a virtual recovery center Just go to Santa Cruz County dot US and look for the fire recovery tab And you'll access a bunch of resources right there And if neither does work for you a good place to start is just go to disaster assistance gov and Fill in your information and see what they can do for you. That's the FEMA's website a couple notes as Repopulation has really rolled out in full swing here. We've really seen a drop in our shelter population so beginning on Tuesday, we're going to start to consolidate some of those operations and We will begin winding down on Tuesday the Congregational Church in Soquel Twin Lakes Church Coastlands Church and the Santa Cruz Civic Harbor High School the Seventh Day Adventists The fairgrounds out in Wasaville Cabrillo and Simpkins will remain open But we will wind down those four sites and consolidate them a couple other notes our road crews are in the fire zone They're doing ongoing assessments of China grade Alba Road Bear Creek and Swanton There's debris throughout the zone so they're trying to make sure that the utility trucks and get through the Cal Fire crews and get through And we're already working with contractors on Swanton Road So work will begin this week on a temporary bridge replacement over Mill Creek and there's also three culverts that need to be Replaced so we're hoping to get that road passable for crews In the not too distant future They're also doing tree assessments. There's a lot of trees in the right away that need to come down For the safety of motorists once they open those areas And we have we have a total of three crews out there doing that work also another note We're gonna begin property inspections our building department is gonna be out there and we'll start that process this week We have not seen something of the scale So I have no idea how long that's gonna take yet. We'll know more as this rolls out will provide more information When we know more information and then just a couple of notes for the people because we're starting to repopulate closer to the fire zone You know if you've lost power for any length of time And you're going back and look at any refrigerator just throw your food out if there's any question if there's any doubt throw it out, right? And also ash that ash that is if you have ash on your property that can actually be hazardous So please don't use a leaf blower to blow it around If you need to vacuum it up for some reason make sure you're using a vacuum with a HEPA filter If you're a kid children's toys have been outside to wipe them down Try not to get it on your skin. It can just be it can actually have a bad effect for you. Thank you All right with that. We're happy to answer your questions Questions Yes, the question was related to the frequency of the press conferences We plan on doing another press conference in 24 hours from now at 6 p.m. Tomorrow, and then on an as-needed basis after that Second question is The question is related to the areas east of highway 9 on Bear Creek Road Chief Brenton a few have any insights on that Yes, we're we're continuing Evaluating that every day we have a meeting with our law enforcement partners and during that meeting we Give our input to the law enforcement as far as what we feel comfortable Opening up for the safety of the public as well as the safety of our first responders Some of that is is a little problematic based on some of the road systems because sometimes when we do open up a certain road system It allows access by nature of the road systems throughout the rest of the fire Which can inhibit the effectiveness of our crews in continuing to extinguish and suppress the fire So we look at that very carefully We do not take that lightly because folks have been out of their homes for a week plus And we want to get them repopulated as soon as possible, but we have to do a bit of a Balancing act with that so we're not intentionally trying to take you know to keep people out For long periods of time. It's just that as we are aggressively doing our mop up and making rendering it safe Then we are going to suggest and recommend to our law enforcement partners What we feel comfortable opening and then ultimately it's up to the sheriff's office in this case To make the final decision but we do that as a collective group and then we we make sure we message that out appropriately so that people are informed appropriately and And it's just one team moving together to to make that happen. So for that particular road I can give you an exact date I will tell you that it is something on our radar and we are looking at that carefully and You'll see the next probably 48 hours a few more repopulations occur right now We've been very aggressive and repopulating, but we want to do it also in a controlled fashion. So it's not chaotic and it's as Efficient and effective for not only us, but also for the population to get back home and get their lives back to normal So it is on our radar. We are working towards it and it is something that you will probably see in the near future So in relation to do we have to wait for the utility companies before that and yes We have as part of that process a very Thorough process and that that there has to be signatories before we repopulate and part of that is the fact that We make sure that when they repopulate into those areas, they have power. They have water They have the necessary utilities and so forth in place so that they're not coming home And it's dark and they don't have power and all that stuff. They've already been In a situation where they've been out of their homes and and it's Uncomfortable and so forth. We want to make that return as comfortable as possible for those people returning Yeah, I think that what what you've experienced is the environment has been Filled with a lot of particulate matter some of that natural particulate matter and some of that because of the nature of burning a Lot of structures. There's a lot of stuff. So to speak in the air some of it could be harmful to health And so just to be on the safe side anything any sort of I would say filters in your HVAC systems for your homes I would replace anything like vehicles anything that filters air I would recommend that they take the appropriate actions replace that and And like has already been mentioned as far as when you are removing any ash and so forth That you keep that in mind is that you don't aerosolize that put it up the air where you're breathing it use any sort of Masks and nowadays we're wearing masks for everything else. So it's probably it could time to be wearing it anyway And make sure that that's as safe as possible because there there is a lot of stuff That was put in the atmosphere that we really don't know what exactly it was and it is just a nature of these kind of incidents We're Andy Gordon KBCZ Boulder Creek Community Radio Can you elaborate on the issues with the Salerno Valley Water District and the water alerts that have been issued? Sure, the question was related to the water alerts that have been issued by the the water district What was this is very specifically you're looking for that? just maybe The severity this the areas that are affected how long It's expected to affect those areas Sure, I actually asked that we go back and speak to them Specifically, I don't want to speak for them or misspeak for them So we can definitely get you someone to contact to get that information I'll have one more question What can residents expect that are going back to their neighborhoods as far as their their properties are concerned? I know so there's markings on the roads. What are those markings? Yeah, so I know I can speak for the damage inspection team specifically They put markings on the properties that they've inspected so that when the other teams are in the area They don't become redundant if there's some sort of physical indicator there So that's the markers from the actual incident itself. Obviously, there's other utilities that use marking systems. There may be County agencies that come through and use markings So the people coming into the area may see a variety of different markings in the area All with different specific purposes for different utilities and infrastructure and damage inspection teams Yeah, you know, I think one of the biggest things for a firefighter coming off the line after a 24-hour shift To see those signs really makes all the difference for them to see someone saying thank you or a kid waving a flag or a sign So from from us. It's a huge Kind of motivator to keep going and continue the hard work in the community All right, everybody up here is available for questions after this just a reminder We will have our last press conference scheduled for tomorrow at 6 p.m I just want to say thank you for everyone for joining us and this concludes the 6 p.m. Press conference