1,400 Evacuated From Martin Fire

Warm, dry winds Wednesday fanned yet another roaring blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains, whipping through the heavily forested area of Bonny Doon and forcing the evacuation of 1,400 residents.

Just three weeks after a fierce wildfire torched 4,270 acres off Summit Road and burned 35 homes, thick columns of smoke were once again visible for miles as firefighters scrambled to extinguish the conflagration burning in the tiny mountain community.

Wednesday's wind-whipped, brush-fueled Martin fire was the latest in a batch of wildfires that ignited over the past two days in Northern California, from the coast to the Sierra foothills - an ominous sign for the summer.

"The biggest concern is that we are having a lot of fire activity," said Paul Van Gerwen, Bay Area spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "The vegetation is in a critical state, and we're going to be coming up on the Fourth of July and all the concerns around that."

By early evening, the Martin fire was threatening at least 1,000 homes, with the fast-moving blaze expected to grow to 1,500 acres by Thursday.

With no estimate of containment and continued winds, fire officials feared the flames would move into more populated areas through the night.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for Ice Cream Grade, Pine Flat and Boony Doon roads as hundreds of firefighters descended on the hillside to douse the flames around the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve - a large open space surrounded by homes. At least a dozen people took shelter at a local school.

Wednesday's wildfire erupted on Martin Road in Santa Cruz County just before 3 p.m., but dry winds accelerated the flames and it grew to hundreds of acres within an hour. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

With her house dangerously near the blaze on Ice Cream Grade, Stephanie Jessen prepared to evacuate. "It jumped from 2 acres to 15 acres in about two minutes," Jessen said.

At about 4:10 p.m., Gary Meeham, who owns Bonny Doon Farm, was prepared to fight the blaze if he had to. He already had his fire hoses out. "The smoke is going over us and it's pretty intense. It's coming in our direction."

The blazes scattered across Northern California were taxing firefighters' ability to stay on top of them, Van Gerwen said, making them worry how they'll handle the next one.

"The resources we have stationed around the state are all being tied up," Van Gerwen said. "When you have five or six fires going, you start to have things spread pretty thin. . . . Any new fires that occur, there's a risk of not being able to control them."

Wednesday's fire outbreak was driven by strong offshore winds that howled over the East Bay hills at 30 to 35 mph overnight with gusts up to 50 mph. Similar to the Santa Ana winds notorious for fanning wildfires throughout Southern California, the offshore winds are warmer and drier than the prevailing onshore breezes that waft from the Pacific Ocean.

With vegetation already parched and browned by a record rainless spring, the winds only make things drier, and any spark can quickly fan a raging blaze, Van Gerwen said. Vegetation normally isn't this dry until August.

"The state of the vegetation is two months ahead of schedule," Van Gerwen said.

Will Pi, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said offshore winds are common in spring but have been more frequent this year.

"It's been happening quite frequently, more than usual this season," Pi said. "It's been very dry. We've seen relative humidities down below 10 percent."

Forecasters said the winds were expected to drop to 10 to 20 mph by Thursday, with temperatures in the 80s to 90s. However, temperatures are expected to cool this weekend to the 70s in San Jose and 60s along the coast.

High winds sparked an early start to fire season last month when they fanned the Summit blaze into the largest Santa Cruz County wildfire in at least a century. That fire, which began before dawn May 22 and was contained May 30, remains under investigation.

CALFIRE UPDATE:

Martin Fire:
Name:	Martin Fire
County:	Santa Cruz County
Location:	Bonny Doon and Martin Road, near Hwy 9
Administrative Unit:	CAL FIRE San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit
Status/Notes:	5% containment - 700 acres
Date Started:	June 11, 2008 2:54 pm
Last update:	June 12, 2008 6:30 am
Phone Numbers	(831) 335-6717 (Martin Fire Information Number)
Phone Numbers	(831) 335-6718 (Martin Fire Information Number)

Source: Mercury News & CALFIRE