2015 Archived News Items

December 2015

• Dec 31, 2015: An evening fire destroyed a home in Redwood Estates. If you'd like to assist the family that was displaced, one option is here: https://www.gofundme.com/jsh3qgqk.

• Dec 31, 2015 - Jan 3, 2016: Spare the air alert for the San Lorenzo Valley. For more information see www.montereybaycleanair.org.

• Dec 1, 2015: The backyard burn season has opened in Santa Cruz County. For more information, see the Santa Cruz County Backyard Burn Rules page. Note that there is no backyard burn season in Santa Clara County.

November 2015

• Nov 7, 2015: CalFire has lifted the burn permit suspension (press release andproclamation). Note that Santa Cruz County's backyard burn season has not yet started, and this lifting does not allow backyard burns until that season opens again, usually on December 1.

September 2015

• Sep 20-21, 2015: Are a spare the air days in Santa Clara county and other areas covered by the BAAQMD.

• Sep 18, 2015: A small wildland fire was reported on Soquel San Jose Road in the late afternoon. It was quickly contained, and held to 1/4 acre in size.

  • Sep 17, 2015: A small wildland fire was reported on Loma Prieta Way in the late afternoon. It was quickly contained, and held to 1/2 acre in size.

  • Sep 17, 2015: A small wildland fire was reported just outside of Los Gatos in the late afternoon. It was held to about 1 acre in size. (Mercury News story link.)

• Sep 10, 2015: A fire was reported in the Bear Canyon area south of Castle Rock and west of Bear Creek Road. It was about 5 acres in size and destroyed one structure. (KION News story link. KTVU News story link.)

• Sep 9, 2015: A small wildland fire was reported on Mount Bache this morning, and held to about 1/2 acre in size. (Santa Cruz Sentinel story link. KSBW News story link.)

• Sep 8-10, 2015: Are a spare the air days in Santa Clara county and other areas covered by the BAAQMD.

• Sep 7, 2015: A small wildland fire was extinguished along the northbound side of highway 17 near the Summit. It was held to about 1/2 acre. (CBS News story link. NBC News story link.)

August 2015

• Aug 30, 2015: A fire destroyed the Loma Prieta Community Center in the late hours of the evening.

• Aug 16 - 17, 2015: Are spare the air days in Santa Clara county and other areas covered by the BAAQMD. 

• Aug 8, 2015: Santa Cruz County Fire has approved a mechanism to lock down your fire hydrants against water theft that will still allow firefighters access to your water when they respond to a fire at your home. Here is the document describing their decision, and a link to the vendor supplying the related products.

• Aug 6, 2015: A Red Flag Warning is in effect through 11am on Aug 7, 2015, for dry thunderstorms. Lots of lightning has already been seen in the area, so fire is a risk.

June 2015

• Jun 28, 2015: The San Mateo / Santa Crux Cal Fire unit has issued a burn ban for all of the State Responsibility Area (which includes all of the LPVFR response area) it serves, beginning Jun 29, 2015. The proclamation (pdf) and press release (pdf) provide all the details.

• Jun 25, 2015: As July 4th approaches remember that fireworks are illegal in all of Santa Clara county, and most of Santa Cruz County. The drought has made our vegetation drier than usual, and the risk of fire from any firework is substantial. If you want to see fireworks this year, please go see a professionally run show rather than set any off yourself. Thank you!

• Jun 9, 2015: A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for, donated to, or helped out with the LPVFR Annual BBQ!

• Jun 7, 2015: The LPVFR Annual BBQ!  11am - 4pm. Please come join us at the play field on Summit Road, across from CT English School, for our annual celebration and fundraiser. Lots of games for the kids, food, a CalStar helicopter, and an amazing raffle. We look forward to seeing you there!

April 2015

• Apr 30, 2015: Backyard burn season ends today in Santa Cruz County. Usually it will re-open again on Dec 1, conditions permitting.

• Apr 6, 2015: The Incident Statistics pages have been updated to include the March response numbers.

March 2015

• Mar 15, 2015: For the first time in quite a while we are back at high fire danger. The rain year isn't over yet, but we are still well below average on accumulated rainfall, and the drought continues. Please be careful with anything that could start a fire!

February 2015

• Feb 15, 2015: Thank you to everyone who came out to this morning's pancake breakfast! We served a lot of community members who donated to the water tender, and were happy to do it!

• Feb 10, 2015: Thank you! The Love Me Tender campaign has ended successfully! Many thanks to all our donors! We've achieved the goal and the purchase of the new water tender is happening!

• Feb 6, 2015: Another large donation to the Love Me Tender campaign has arrived! We are closing in on being done very, very soon!

• Feb 5, 2015: January 2015 Incident Statistics have been added to the site.

  • Feb 4, 2015: A large donation to the Love Me Tender campaign has arrived, moving us much closer to the goal. We are in the home stretch on this!

• Feb 3, 2015: Spare The Air alert in Santa Clara County. See http://www.sparetheair.org/ for more information.

January 2015

• Jan 24 - 25, 2015: Spare The Air alert in Santa Clara County. See http://www.sparetheair.org/ for more information.

• Jan 15 - 17, 2015: Spare The Air alert in Santa Clara County. See http://www.sparetheair.org/ for more information.

• Jan 3 - 12, 2015: Spare The Air alert in Santa Clara County. See http://www.sparetheair.org/ for more information.

• Jan 10, 2015: February MNN article now available: 2014 Fire Department Review

• Jan 1, 2015: Many thanks to all who donated at the end of 2014 to the Love Me Tender campaign. We made huge progress, and continue to close in on our goal. Thank you, and Happy New Year!