The Summit fire is finally contained. Now it’s time to extinguish it.
After six days of playing defense, firefighters are left hunting for hot spots in a blaze that roared to life early Thursday morning and within five hours had done more than half its damage.
Now, even the smallest hidden root can smolder for days, waiting until the crews have all gone home before it flares up and starts another destructive blaze.
“We chase ‘smokes,’ ” said Richard Lancaster of San Luis Obispo, his weary face smudged by soot and sweat. “We’re looking for anything hot that could blow across the line and start another fire.”
On high ridges and deep canyons in the Santa Cruz Mountains, firefighters have built a 13-mile long circle to isolate a fire that has claimed 4,270 acres, 31 homes and 63 outbuildings. So far, the cost of fighting the fire has reached $12.2 million. It continues to burn in small spots on steep ridge lines along Summit Road but is no longer threatening structures.
So the goal is shifting. To make the area safe again, firefighters are trying to douse every hint of heat within the vast perimeter.
Fire investigators won’t comment on what may have started the blaze, which they have traced to just off Summit Road about a half mile northwest of Maymen’s Flat.
West coast 911 firefighter news source – Mercury news / Read entire article
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