Home‎ > ‎

Archived News Items

Items removed from the LPVFR home page news ticker are archived here for reference.

  • Aug 9, 2017: Cal Fire releases cause of 2016 Loma Fire.
  • Jun 3, 2017: Cal Fire issues a press release re-opening the Soquel State Demo Forest to recreational use.
  • Feb 10, 2017: Cal Fire issues a press release saying the Soquel State Demo Forest remains closed due to extensive storm damage.

  • Feb 1, 2017: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jan 30, 2017: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jan 17, 2017: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jan 14, 2017: Year end statistics are up on this website.

  • Jan 11, 2017: Cal Fire Closes Soquel State Demo Forest until further notice due to storm related damage. Press release.

  • Dec 19-22, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Nov 11, 2016: Cal Fire issued a news release stating that the San Mateo Santa Cruz Unit is transitioning out of peak fire season. They are monitoring conditions constantly, however, and will increase staffing if conditions warrant.

Octoberber 2016
  • Oct 12, 2016: Cal Fire has lifted the burn ban thanks to recent rains. This applies to agricultural and hazard burns with proper, valid permits. Backyard burn season doesn't start until at least Dec 1 in Santa Cruz County. (There is no backyard burn season in Santa Clara County.) Press Release PDF

  • Oct 12, 2016: The Loma Fire is declared 100% contained.

  • Oct 9, 2016: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.
September 2016
  • Sep 26, 2016: The Loma Fire begins in the Casa Loma and Loma Chiquita area. Fast moving and highly destructive, it forced evacuations in much of the Casa Loma area. Cal Fire reports 12 residences destroyed and 1 damaged, along with 16 outbuildings. It grew to 4,474 acres in short order. As of 10/9/16 it is still reported as 95% contained and there are flareups within the perimeter with some frequency. Evacuations are lifted, however, and the community of Casa Loma is starting to work on recovery. For more fire info, visit the fire information page, and to assist the victims, visit the fire assistance page.
  • Sep 25-27, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Sep 19, 2016: A fire was reported near Highland Way and Laguna Creek roads. The initial dispatch came in at 5:10 pm, and it was reported contained at approximately 6:20 pm. About 1/2 acre of wildland was involved. Aircraft, Cal Fire, and LPVFR crews all participated in controlling the blaze.

  • Sep 17-19, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Sep 16, 2016: Soberanes Fire update: 108,031 acres, 57% containment, estimated containment date Sept 30, 2016. Still almost 1500 people working this fire. Details at: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4888/.

  • Sep 7, 2016: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.
August 2016
  • Aug 18-19, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Aug 10-13, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.
July 2016
  • Jul 25-29, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jul 26, 2016: Senator Jim Beall's Fire and Water Workshop, 7-9pm, Redwood Estates Pavilion. Hear about fire safety and drought precautions. Link to flyer.

  • Jul 22, 2016: The Soberanes Fire started in Monterey County, south of Monterey. As of 8/7/16 this fire has burned 57.500 acres, is 45% contained, has destroyed 57 homes, caused 1 fatality and 3 other injuries. Hundreds of homes are still threatened, and evacuation orders are in place. Given the rugged terrain, this fire may burn to 170,000 acres before it is done, and containment is estimated at 8/31/16. It was caused by an illegal campfire. Over 5000 people are working this incident, and the cost is in the tens of millions of dollars. Smoke from this fire has impacted much of the Santa Cruz Mountain area. Up to date summary information is available here:http://calfireinformation.weebly.com/soberanes-fire-updates.html

  • Jul 18, 2016: CalFire has released a press release reminding people of the burn ban that is in place at this time. In the past two weeks, three citations have been issued for fires started by people who where mowing, and in the past three weeks two citations were issued for burning illegally.

  • Jul 13-15, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.
June 2016
  • Jun 28, 2016: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jun 27, 2016: Around 3 pm a car fire on 17 near Redwood Estates spread to the vegetation, causing evacuations for some residents in the area, who were sheltered in the Redwood Estates Pavilion. About 20 homes were threatened, but thus far no structures have been damaged. News reports say the fire was 3 to 5 acres in size and forward spread was halted shortly before 5 pm. As a result of this incident highway 17 was closed in both directions for a time, and there were major traffic problems in all of the surrounding areas.

  • Jun 21, 2016: Is a Spare The Air day in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.

  • Jun 20, 2016: Local fire danger level has moved up to High.

  • Jun 2-4, 2016: Are Spare The Air days in areas covered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, particularly Santa Clara County. See sparetheair.org for more information.
May 2016
  • May 20, 2016: Around noon, a small fire in shed at a local winery was put out quickly by local firefighters.

  • May 16, 2016: For the first time this season, our local fire danger level has moved up to Moderate.
April 2016
  • Apr 30, 2016: Last day of backyard burn season in Santa Cruz County. Per this document, all open burns in Santa Cruz County now require a permit from Cal Fire in addition to whatever is needed from the MBAQMD.
March 2016
  • Mar 17, 2016: A fire destroyed a home in the area of Twin Lanes Road. Santa Cruz Sentinel article.

  • Mar 13, 2016: LPVFR volunteer Kirstin Snook died in a car accident today. Her energy and enthusiasm will be sorely missed.

February 2016
  • Feb 12, 2016: A nice article was published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about LPVFR's new engine.

  • Feb 6, 2016: December 2015 and January 2016 saw huge numbers of vehicle accidents in our response area. (42 and 24, respectively.) See the Incident Statistics pages for more details. Clearly the rains caused most of them, and we're not out of winter yet. Please drive carefully!
January 2016
  • Jan 9, 2016: Incident Statistics for Dec 2015 - and thus the entire year - are up on the site.

  • Jan 2, 2016: Spare the air alert in Santa Clara county and other areas under the control of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. For more information, seewww.sparetheair.org.
Older Archived News Items