While firefighters are mopping up the 485-acre Loma fire near Santa Cruz, California, investigators are looking into the possibility that the fire may have started from brush piles that were burned by inmate crews. CalFire Battalion Chief Darrell Wolf supervised the crews that burned 30 brush piles near the point of origin of the fire as recently as Wednesday, October 21. The fire, which burned one trailer and two outbuildings and caused hundreds to evacuate, was reported Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 am. Full containment is expected today.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Frank Deto, who lost his fifth-wheel trailer and Chevy pickkup in the fire, said he saw unattended embers where the piles had been burned when he drove to work in the pre-dawn hours on Thursday and Friday, but assumed CalFire crews knew what they were doing.
Here is an excerpt from an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
After years of building trail – [Deto has] carved 100 miles of paths into public open spaces in the Santa Cruz Mountains – and clearing land, Deto believes in responsible use of fire as a land management tool and is supportive of the state fire agency.
“They were doing a really good job, but they were a little impatient,” Deto said. He even said a little of the fault lies with himself. When he left for work early on Thursday and Friday mornings, Deto saw embers glowing on the hillside where the fire erupted.
He said he assumed Cal Fire crews knew what they were doing, but Monday questioned aloud his own actions.
“Why didn’t I stop and do something about it?” Deto asked. He carries a shovel in his pickup.
[Cal Fire Capt. Gianni] Muschetto said fire investigators have no preconceived ideas about what started the Loma Fire and will consider all options, such as a discarded cigarette or lightning. However, Muschetto also acknowledged they were aware of the inmate crew’s brush-clearing activity.
“This whole stretch,” he said, referring to land edging both sides of Loma Chiquita, a dirt road that winds into Santa Clara County, “they’ve been doing work.”
Along the road, much of the rocky soil is bare and there are fresh cuts on manzanita trees and other bushes where branches have been sawed off. Some of the brush piles – which were 4 feet high – were burned as recently as last Wednesday, he said. And although a Cal Fire engine was there each day, dousing them with water, some embers may not have been extinguished and potentially could have started the wildfire, he said.
“Is that a possibility? Yes,” said Wolf, a 30-year veteran firefighter. “Do I know it happened for a fact? No. They are doing a thorough investigation and we’ll make the results public as soon as we find out.”
Wolf, a Morgan Hill native who began his career at Cal Fire’s Burrell Station on Summit Road, was the incident commander on the Loma Fire when the blaze raged on Sunday morning. “I know for a fact that we are very careful. If it is something we caused, it brings me real concern,” he said.
