Photos & Incident Descriptions

Some incidents that LPVFR responds to will be documented here. Not every incident will appear; in fact most won't. Medical aid calls and vehicle accidents always have significant privacy concerns and they are unlikely to be described here as a result. Major incidents, fires and a few other things will be documented if they are relevant, but even in those cases actual addresses and locations generally won't be given in detail.

• September 19, 2016

  • • A fire was reported in the early evening near Highland Way and Laguna Creek roads. It was held at 1/2 acre and no structures were damaged.

• September 10, 2015

  • • A fire in the Bear Canyon area consumed about 5 acres of wildland and destroyed one structure.

• • • Photo: Les Niles

• August 30, 2015 - Major Structure Fire at the Loma Prieta Community Center

In the late hours of August 30th, and the early hours of August 31st, a major fire destroyed the Loma Prieta Community Center and various nearby rooms in the area adjacent to the gym at Loma Prieta school. The gym was relatively undamaged, however. Over 100,000 gallons of water were used putting this fire out, and 55 fire fighters from a large number of agencies worked together to extinguish the blaze.

• June 14, 2015 - Structure Fire in Chemeketa Park

  • A Sunday afternoon structure fire in Chemeketa Park left a home seriously damaged and required a large fire response, including air drops from the helicopter stationed at Alma Station.

• • Photo: Rich Pasco.

• December 11, 2014 - Major Storm Damage

 A large storm driven by an atmospheric river of equatorial moisture caused high winds and heavy rains in our response area.

These photos show just a few of the incidents that LPVFR and County Fire responded to in the area. Pictures were all tweeted out by LPVFR or published on 95033talk.

• November 23, 2014 - 3:35 am - Structure Fire on Summit Rd

An entire house was lost to a structure fire this morning. The first engine from Burrell station was on scene just a few minutes after the initial dispatch, but the house was already fully involved. Firefighters concentrated on keeping the fire from spreading into the wildland and let the fire burn itself out. Traffic was reduced to one way on Summit Road for hours during the incident, and the Burrell engine was back in quarters at about 3:18pm, nearly 12 hours after the fire was reported. LPVFR sent members in four apparatus: E3621, E3522, R3661, and WT3651. Other engines came from Santa Clara County Fire, Scotts Valley Fire, and Central Fire. CHP and sheriffs also responded. There is a Santa Cruz Sentinel article about this fire. About 19,000 gallons of water were used putting out this fire.

Picture and video below courtesy of a neighbor at the scene. Click on images for a larger version.

Pictures and video below courtesy of Jay Kilby. Click on images for a larger version.

• November 15, 2014 - 11:54 pm - Lompico Fire

Initial dispatch was for a 20 foot long brush fire on a hillside. A battalion chief arrived on scene at 12:12am and the first engine arrived 4 minutes later. Shortly thereafter the fire was declared both contained and controlled, and other incoming engines were canceled. Based on the radio traffic, this was part of a series of incidents in that area by someone known to the fire department. The Prevention Officer - the fire department's law enforcement specialist - was called to the scene. Details about things like this don't go over the radio, so no additional information is available from that source.

Update: later in the day the community was informed on a local neighborhood email list that an arrest was made related to this fire.

• October 11, 2014

Cal Fire has released the safety stand-down on all S-2T aircraft. Tankers are flying again as quickly as pilots return and aircraft are inspected.

• October 7, 2014

A Cal Fire S-2T tanker based in Hollister CA crashed today while fighting the Dog Rock Fire near Yosemite National Park. Pilot Geoffrey "Craig" Hunt died in the crash. The entire fleet of S-2T tanker aircraft is grounded on a safety stand down for an unknown length of time while the crash is analyzed. The tanker in question - 81 - was a regular site over our homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains, responding to fires in our area. Our thoughts go out to the family and coworkers of the pilot.

• October 6, 2014 - 1:33 am - Cresci Fire

Reports of smoke on Old Japanese, Cresci, and other roads in the area. Fire found on Cresci road. Tree into power lines. Here's a log of the highlights from the radio traffic:

• • • 1:33 am - first 911 call reporting smoke. Burrell and VFD dispatched to look around. Several more calls follow. One caller reports power has been out in the area since 10:30 pm.

    • 2:04 am - Burrell engine reports seeing a column of smoke and upgrades to wildland fire dispatch.

    • 2:xx am - Dispatch says PG&E isn't aware of any power outages in the area.

    • 2:37 am - Fire located on Cresci road. All equipment that had been staged nearby heads to the location.

    • 2:49 am - Fire is reported to be 1/4 acre in size, moderate rate of spread. Containment estimated in 30 minutes and crews will be busy for 3 hours.

    • 3:10 am - a cover engine is in place at Burrell station

    • 3:11 am - forward progress on the fire is stopped

    • 3:31 am - fire is contained - that is, surrounded by a fireline of one sort or another

    • 4:37 am - fire is controlled - that is, put out, though hot spots like burning stumps & roots are always possible

    • 5:41 am - volunteer engine 3621 is back in quarters

    • 6:11 am - 1768 is back in quarters at Burrell station

    • 6:11 am - Water tender 3651 is available and back in quarters

An image taken at the scene of the Cresci Fire:

• October 4, 2014 - 12:32 am

Report of a vehicle accident with fire in the vegetation on highway 9 near Heather Heights drive, just north of 35. Full wildland response sent from Santa Clara Cal Fire along with the Stevens Creek volunteers and mutual aid from Santa Cruz Cal Fire. (No aircraft as it was after dark.) Fire contained at 12:52 and incoming resources were canceled. It was about 1/2 acre in size.

• October 3, 2014 - 7:28 pm

A trailer on fire - possibly threatening the wildland - in the area of Soquel San Jose and Hester Creek. A full wildland response was sent: 5 Cal Fire engines, battalion chief, and everything the VFD could bring. (No aircraft as it was after dark.) The first engine on scene reported a 27' trailer, on third fully involved, venting through the roof, but no extension into the wildland. They made an interior fire attack - meaning they got inside the trailer with hoses - and stopped it. In the end 3 Cal Fire engines, 1 volunteer engine, and the volunteer water tender were on scene to handle the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation.