 Good evening. This is the 6 p.m. press conference here on the CZU lightning complex. I'm Jonathan Cox, deputy chief with Cal fire with the San Mateo Santa Cruz unit and line officer on the incident just as always if you keep your cell phones muted and Take any conversations outside the press conference area Additionally, there will be time for questions and answers at the end of the formal presentations And as always if you can please keep your masks on at all times With that just a quick incident update for the fire this evening at 6 p.m We can confirm that we have eighty three thousand one hundred and thirty three acres within the fire perimeter The fire is now twenty seven percent contained There are still ten thousand two hundred and seven structures that are threatened by the incident But that number is coming down every time we report out We can also confirm eight hundred and thirty one structures that have been destroyed of the eight hundred and thirty one structures Five hundred and seventy five of those are single family residents and of the eight hundred and thirty one only eleven are in San Mateo County The rest are in Santa Cruz County We have over two thousand personnel additional personnel arrived today to fight the fire We are now at two thousand one hundred and five personnel assigned to the incident with that I'll hand it over to incident management team three operations section chief mark Brunton for an operations update Good evening another good day of work on the fire line whether again cooperating with us as far as our ground resources able to get in and Start putting in a lot of line and picking up any of the hot spots throughout the fire Starting at the top of the fire again Patano Park area Do you have our control lines in continue to put more control lines in to strengthen that line? Fire continue working work down in towards those lines and when it does we're able to pick up the fire and Then start our extinguishment and then in other areas to get into a mop up phase Part of that that part of the fire. So good progress there a lot of still a lot of work up in that end of the fire With our winds that we've been seeing today. They've been blowing from a southern direction So it's been blowing smoke not only into that community in the pescadero, but also reaching as far as a half moon bay No threat to those communities Maybe a little unnerving that they're spilling or that's we're seeing that smoke But it's just because of our wind patterns bringing the smoke from the entire fire and pushing it to the north The coming days as far as our weather forecast It's going to be hotter drier and we are going to see a reversal the winds in the opposite direction Moving down on the coast was able to check on a lot of that part of the fire this afternoon It's looking really good There are a number of areas where the burn wasn't as clean burn through some of the eucalyptus groves and such So a lot of smoke production. It's no factor as far as as the fire goes other than it's going to be a heavy mop up On that in that area. So eventually when highway one is open up There are going to be be very visible and we're going to be continually working on that. That's a lot of work tedious and time-consuming work, but it's going to be there for a while So moving to the southern part of the fire. That's looking really good Once again, mop it up really well good strong control lines. We're feeling very confident on that Again around the community of Felton that burnout operation we did a couple days ago Continue to consume deep into the the burn itself, which is great. It's doing the work We wanted to do to put a nice protective ring around the community of Felton moving up the highway nine corridor line is continuing Continuing to be put in improved as I had mentioned earlier because of the topography because of the fuels and because of the very thick Duff layer on the forest floor It's taking a considerable amount of work to make sure we get a good strong line in throughout the fire today We've we've seen a number of very small Sloppovers or where the fire is burned through the Duff and popped up on the other side of the line Our crews have been able to get in there and contain those But I think this is just going to be a regular occurrence as we continue to strengthen the lines And until we get those completely strengthened We're going to see that happening probably day in day out especially as we get into that warmer and drier weather pattern It's just unfortunate. It's just one of the things that we have to deal with one of the challenges Regarding this this fire Again more in a line continue to be put in so it can really good Interior in the the road systems They're continuing to clear the road systems. I'll be to 30 to 36 again a lot of work a lot of downed trees Interior roads same thing. They're going through Getting that cleared the utility utilities are getting in and doing their work The unfortunate thing also is the fact that it even though they've gotten in and cleared a road system We're continually having trees come down So once that area has been cleared they think it's fine They try to they come back out to to access out of that road system and there's trees that have fallen behind them So it's a constant process. I believe we're going to see a constant process throughout as these trees are fire We can we get a little wind they're going to come down And it's going to be a constant challenge for us as far as the the clearing of roads So just it's kind of a one step forward two steps back in some Circumstances with this and it's just something we're going to have to kind of live with and deal with Again big safety concern our folks our responders out there have been Been briefed on it have contingency plans in place, but it is something that is very hazardous We're also seeing some injuries Not to any of the firefighters, but to some civilians and such that are in that fire area that they shouldn't be and They've stepped in the hot ash pits and have received burns. So Again another reason that when we evacuate an area, there's a reason to it is for the safety of those those individuals as we get Into the fire we're going to see a potential more of that because it's just another hazard after the fires burn through and been there for a while Our air program again, the weather didn't really cooperate We had to wait till later in the day to fly our aircraft Today we've dropped only about 55,000 gallons of water with our aircraft So only a small window for them to work in although the window that they were working in that they were as productive as they possibly could be With the coming weather the clearing of the marine layer and it's going to take a few days to get it where it's going to be very beneficial to us As we get that that weather change We're going to fly in more of those aircraft and they're going to be working in conjunction with the troops on the ground To get as closer to the finish of this event. Thank you Speaking next from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office is Chief Deputy Chris Clark well today was another another good day and We're we were happy to get the folks back in their homes for those folks that lived in the Long Pico Zion area Mount Herman, Los Cumbres and then the area to the east of Bear Creek Road Kind of halfway through Bear Creek running all the way out to Highway 35 That was it's great to get those folks back home and honestly it's a good day for us It's a great great day for them And I just want to kind of touch on that just a minute because again, I and I've mentioned this before You know It's kind of a day-by-day process right of getting folks back home and we want to get you home There's going to be areas. We're going to be able to get you to Sooner than others and so some of the areas that are more affected by fire. It's going to be a little while longer, so You know as we move West and then north in terms of our repopulation plan That'll be good for those folks, but I just wanted to preface and just say, you know, we Please be patient with us. We want to get you back We just want to make sure that all those services are set for you to be able to return back to it to a safe place So again today great day for the folks that lived in the Zion Hill on Pico area We were happy to get you back Into your beds tonight We didn't have any arrests today as another another piece of good news We did cite one person for being a closed evacuation area But we didn't have to arrest anyone and so that was that was positive in terms of our numbers 56 people Now we're patrolling the evacuated area today. We'll have again 56 that same number tonight with 20 of our folks 20 in County Mutual aid agencies that are helping us from within the county and then 16 from over the hill We responded to four suspicious people and then six welfare checks and our missing persons account right now stands at one We just have one case that case is actually it was someone who reported a loved one who hadn't heard from in a while But actually the last time they'd seen them was before the fire it started So kind of what I'm being told is that likely the person is likely not a fire victim But nonetheless again, like I've said before we're gonna we're gonna find this person when we do we're gonna We'll let you know when that happens and let their family obviously know in terms of repopulations so People are coming back and so we're making progress with that But one hindrance I heard of today was was the route to get back And so what routes do we take to get back? And so and again, we want to do this efficiently so we can kind of prevent you from from being in traffic here Or going the wrong way or on all those things are just really frustrating a process that's already been frustrating So with that I just want to encourage everyone to utilize a couple different resources When planning your route, you know, if you hear that an evacuation order has been lifted and you're excited about getting home I Would I would ask that and recommend that you take a look at where you're going and then look at well Obviously know where you're going but look at the CHP's Facebook page as well as ours And you can kind of you can find out where the roadblocks are and where the hard closures are I think you can kind of predetermine your route because again, there's only certain ways in and out Which makes this area challenging obviously, but planning your route will will make that transition easier as you as you get back home Also be vigilant, you know as we as we people start coming back You know be mindful of who's in your neighborhood again, you know, we're not going anywhere And so we're going to continue as you've seen our numbers really haven't changed with regards to our policing presence We're going to continue that because we want to make sure that you that you feel safe and secure as you settle back back into your home And so and again, please be patient Kind of as we go as we continue this repopulation process Until those areas get get safer really what what I'm speaking to on that is really the the Boulder Creek area That was heavily affected in the body dune area And so those areas are going to take a little longer and it's just because they're they're just they're just more Impacted and so there's a lot more work that starts to be done there So I just asked for your continued patience We want to get you home and want to get you home as fast as possible the other thing I wanted to mention and and I can imagine that if you're you're displaced from this fire and Say your home God forbid is destroyed and so you want to get a head start on that insurance process you want to find out You know What what does my home look like you know it says it's destroyed on this to damage assessment Matt What does that look like and and we want to be able to help there You know people have asked about photos and stuff like that. Can I get a photo of my house? And so we love to do that except for right now We just have to get people back home and we just have to get We have to secure that area. There'll be there'll be some time insurance companies There there's grace periods for you to be able to file claims and they'll work with you At some point that you know that that may be an option But right now I just wanted to let everybody know that that's on our that's on our radar We we want to do we would love to do that But right now we're just trying to make sure everybody gets home as efficiently as possible And then that those areas that have been evacuated still under an order are safe So just bear with us on that And then last I just want to touch on the recovery Resource center and so the county's put together this recovery resource center over at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in downtown Santa Cruz at 140 Front Street and it's going to start tomorrow tomorrow. It's going to open at 11. It's going to stay open until 7 p.m And I would encourage you that if they're going to have all sorts of local state Federal resources there if you've lost documents if you don't have documents from marriage certificates to birth certificates DMV is going to be there. There's going to be disaster Recovery information and disaster assistance information from FEMA There's going to be information with regards to rebuilding debris removal utilities insurance you name it The county's really done a good job of trying to get all these folks into one under one roof So that you can have access to them And I would encourage you that if you need help with that stuff that you that you take the county up on that and then You get on out to the the Kaiser Permanente Arena where there's people there that will be able to To help you and obviously you can access all this information at Santa Cruz County dot US So if you can't make it go to go to the county's website that I just mentioned and you'll be able to find Further information from there. Thank you Speaking next from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is Lieutenant Vince Padola Good evening everybody. I'd like to continue the Positive news as far as our patrol efforts. We had about 30 Deputies out on patrol protecting our areas that reopened recently and we're happy to say that we had no burglaries No calls for service Any suspicious activities, so it's a really good news and I want to credit our residents and everybody for just keeping an eye out For each other and those that don't live in the area staying out of the areas, which is extremely helpful for us up to the north We did receive a few calls and Chief Brutton addressed them from half-movie residents with the excessive smoke and we You know, we want to reassure you that the half-movie residents are safe and they're no they're in no fire danger They're north of the fires and then again I want to say the same thing over again is if you don't live in these areas stay out You've done a great job of Keeping the roadways open and allowing us to do what we need to do But stay out of the areas of la Honda, San Gregorio and Pescadero areas, please and then additionally we've had a Potential for people to break Barricades or go around barricades in our county parks and our state parks up in the north area in the north zone there Please do not go around any barricades We are out there forcing the barricades now at the state parks and county parks. Please stay out of those areas and lastly Use our websites use our social media and Stay informed with us and know that once information is going to come out or we get information It's going to come out on our website and we're going to get the information to you as quick as we can and that's all I have. Thank you Speaking next on behalf of the unified incident commanders is Cal fire incident management team 3 I see Billy see The good evening 10 days ago when our team was deployed here on this incident We were looking at an incident that had it was in the process of growing 45,000 acres in a 24-hour period Reductioning resources of what is the norm? So we made a number one priority is life safety and we made sure that we were aggressive with our law enforcement partners They're getting people out of the way of this incident and this fire front that was coming out of 10 days later. We've got over 30,000 evacuees repopulated back in their homes We're going to continue aggressively mopping this incident up Getting in more perimeter control each and every day and reducing the risk and the hazards for that population out there The firefighters are working extremely hard. We're going to be increasing our population on this incident Sunday and Monday with the insertion of 12 National Guard can crews which will consist of 288 men and women from the California National Guard along with supervision from Cal fire of 44 personnel Now we'll be coming in to assist us With the containment efforts that we're putting forth on this incident as well as be able to Maneuver some of our other hand crews to other incidents where the prior needs are in the state of California for the citizens We serve thanks And our final speaker this evening Cal fire San Mateo Santa Cruz unit unit chief Ian Larkin Good evening Obviously our reports are good again. We're starting to see more progress As the favorable weather and more resources arrive here to help contain this fire I just want to remind folks and reiterate what Chief Deputy Clark said the Santa Cruz County website Santa Cruz County dot US Click on the fire tab. There's a tremendous amount of resources for those that have been affected by the fire Or had their structures destroyed Just a great resource and the local assistant center is being set up as a as he stated and I highly recommend that you either use the website or get to the assistant center to help you with the recovery The county is working diligently right now to get the roads open assess the structures that have been damaged And also the other infrastructure such as bridges culverts Throughout our county road system to make sure that they're safe in the fire inundated areas For those that were repopulated today and yesterday, I Just want to remind everybody that we're still early in our fire season And in fact our burn window that we typically have here in Santa Cruz County is just starting Even though we have an 80,000 acre fire that burned due to drought conditions We are in that prime time for us to be susceptible to another fire. So take advantage of this time look around your home Try to increase your defensible space if you don't have any now's the time to start working on that just be mindful and Use safety precautions when doing that defensible space. So you don't create a spark or something that could start a receptive vegetation on fire. So Just please bear with us. We're going to continue working diligently on this fire so that we can get everybody back home and Really start that healing process from this devastating fire. All right. How to answer any questions you might have How many people remain evacuated? Yeah, the question is how many people remain evacuated. It's approximately over 40,000 people remain evacuated Can you can you talk about any of the infrastructure that might be affected by this fire people now returning home? What they should be aware of and be careful of yeah, sure So the there's the question was related to what people should be aware of when they return home There's a really great resource online from Cal Fire that on the ready set go website as well Ready for wildfire that actually goes into the details about what to look for when you get home hazards such as trees Propane tanks that you might have had items that may be hazardous or might have fallen What to do when you get to your property as far as what you should touch and what you should engage with and not engage with But that that brings up a really good point And I think there's a lot of good resources for people out there We can go ahead and link that on our incident updates to to make sure we get the info out there is water drinkable So that's going to be on a case-by-case basis That is really going to come down to the water district and people checking in with whoever their water purveyor is and making contact with them We're in Gordon from KVCZ We haven't heard a lot about our the women and men of our local fire districts And I'm wondering if you can give us an idea how those crews have been incorporated in the fight and What that integration process has been like. Yes, the question is related to local government resources, especially locally here Maybe the San Lorenzo Valley Boulder Creek area Having having been with Chief Larkin since about 30 minutes after this incident started on the late Saturday night early Sunday morning I can tell you from the beginning mutual aid from other agencies was vital to this operation As the fire progressed obviously additional resources were called from both San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties And as we know how limited resources were making sure that we got as many local resources as possible was vital several days into the incident the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District along with Ben Lohman and Felton were incorporated into the unified incident command And really what that does is just make sure that all of our efforts are Coordinated and unified together and that means that logistical support is coordinated the planning the communication the maps that we're all using And that happened several days into the incident But I will say that was not the beginning of our coordination firefighting together started almost Instantaneously after the fire began as you can imagine this fire moved fast and it moved into several communities You know at 45,000 acres in less than 24 hours So it was a full a full effort amongst amongst a bunch of agencies And we definitely at the appropriate time made sure that that unified command was established There they're last weekend in the midst of this still growing fire There were specific calls from law enforcement and other government agencies telling visitors, please don't come this weekend Can you talk a little bit about this coming weekend and what they what people who may want to come into the counties? Should expect sure the questions related to what people should expect or what the advice is for out-of-county guests coming into the county and what the director is sure so You know as you've heard Tens of thousands of people Got our displaced still to this day because of the fire Not only that as you've heard that you know the structures damage, you know 700 structures damage, you know 500 something You know single family homes those folks Can't go back to their house. And so they're they need to go somewhere. And so What the county is encouraged and what we would encourage is it if you don't need to be in Santa Cruz County Please do not come here and I've been to that's what I've mentioned that before Because what what you're doing is you're just tying up finite resources for folks to be able to stay hotels Things like that Airbnb's it just it ties all those resources up and it provides less opportunity for people that really need it and so I again and and to it impacts our roadways it and Especially for areas like Scots Valley and other other areas as we move towards the coast You know our coastline is beautiful But for the folks that at some point are going to get to go back to that area people traveling highway one or trying to go to that That that's that the area the county is only going to create more problem. So while on any other occasion We would love to see people here Now is not the right time Can you elaborate on the With regard to the sloppovers Sure the questions related to the specifics about any sloppovers that occurred and any potential damage as a result and chief Brunt will be Yeah regarding the exact specific locations I could get in general We had a number of them happening in the north zone. It was known as branch one up in the Putana Park area that we had a couple of those there As well as in that off the highway 9 corridor and a variety of locations on that line in We have his division TT and then also our are so there's basically a variety of locations along the highway 9 corridor They're very small We have one yesterday that was about 30 acres none of those Matching Paris since you're talking maybe an acre or so because we have crews actively patrolling the line working the line So they're able to pick up on these things quicker when they discover them and take action as far as any sort of Damage to any structures no damage to any structures or anything like that just simply Just over a line and in the vegetation and predominantly staying within the Duff not creating any sort of significant fire But nonetheless burning past our control lines. So crews Found those discovered them took a brief rate of immediate action and it extinguished those All right, everyone up here is available for questions one-on-one Just a final note this evening to the next press conference will be tomorrow evening 24 hours from now at 6 p.m Saturday at 6 p.m. We'll be regrouping here for the next update with that. Thank you for joining us This concludes the 6 p.m. Press Conference