By Joe Rodriguez
Chattanooga Times Free Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A wind-whipped fire that broke out early Sunday morning has burned 600 acres west of Mount Madonna in Santa Cruz County, Calif., forcing the evacuation of up to 100 households in the area.
The fire has already destroyed one home and two outbuildings, said Jim Crawford, a Cal Fire battalion chief at the emergency command center set up at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.
The area burning is the Maymens Flat area, where last year’s devastating Summit Fire began. By 3 p.m., nine air tankers and five helicopters were dropping fire retardant and water on the blaze.
More than 930 firefighters are battling the fire, now spreading west and away from Mount Madonna. Another 1,000 firefighters are expected to arrive to battle the blaze by this morning.
Crawford said the winds got up to 40 mph after the fire broke out. “It was hard enough to stand up, let alone fight a fire,” he said. “It was pretty incredible.”
And the conditions Sunday were not favorable. Colleen Baxter, a Cal Fire spokeswoman, said the high winds during the morning grounded a tanker plane, but Cal Fire resumed dropping water before noon. In addition, 102 fire engines and 12 bulldozers have been brought in, according to Cal Fire.
County sheriff’s deputies have issued a mandatory evacuation for people living or working near Ormsby Cutoff and Highland Way.
Baxter said firefighters have not yet determined the cause of the blaze. By mid-afternoon Sunday, it threatened 250 structures.
Firefighters are trying to use the burned-out area of the May 2008 Summit Fire as a buffer, Crawford said.
Road closures include Maymens Flat, Loma Prieta, Mt. Madonna, Spanish Ranch, Ormsby North, Highland Way and Summit Road and Soquel-San Jose Road.
An evacuation center has been set up at Gilroy’s Mount Madonna High School, 8750 Hirasaki Court, Crawford said.
Diane Zulliger, who has lived in the mountains for 33 years with her husband, two cats and a dog, said they were alerted to the fire by a neighbor at 4 a.m. They had just returned home from a nine-day cruise two hours earlier.
“It’s not something you want to come home to,” she said.
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