BIG SUR, Calif. (KRON) — Two wildfires burning near the coast of Central California, the CZU August Lightning Complex in the Santa Cruz mountains and the Dolan Fire in south Monterey County, ignited within 48 hours of each other. As of Thursday, one of the fires was still raging out-of-control, while the other was nearly contained.
The Dolan Fire tripled in size this week and is 26 percent contained. The CZU fire is 84 percent contained and is mostly smoldering with hot spots, not spreading.
CZU and Dolan posed their own unique challenges for firefighters and how to attack them.
CZU required a massive evacuation of 77,000 residents out of the Santa Cruz mountains and San Lorenzo Valley. Nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed and one resident died while trying to find a way out of a flaming forest. More than 86,000 acres burned and California’s oldest state park, Big Basin, was heavily damaged.
Most evacuation orders have been lifted from the CZU fire and residents were allowed to return. The recovery process for victims who lost their homes will be a long road ahead, county officials said.
A rare lightning storm initially ignited the CZU fire on August 16. An arsonist is suspected of sparking the Dolan Fire August 18.
The 110,000-acre Dolan Fire is burning in an extremely rugged swath of mountains in Los Padres National Forest and Ventana Wilderness. The area is notoriously difficult for fighting wildfires.
Fire officials provided an update on the Dolan Fire Thursday: “Because of very rapid fire growth over the past several days and nights, evacuation warnings and orders have been changing rapidly. On the nights of September 6-7 and 7-8, high temperatures, very dry fuels and wind combined to cause a more than tripling in the size of the fire.”
This week a specialized team called the Ventana Hand Crew wrapped entire buildings with a fire-resistant foil at Limekiln State Park, including a historic adobe, in hopes that the foil will protect the buildings when flames spread through the area.
The hand crew tweeted that the technique is, “Extremely effective when done properly and adequate time allowed.”
A burn scar left over from the 2016 Soberanes Fire helped halt the Dolan Fire from spreading more to the west and north.
U.S. Forest Service fire officials have teamed up with the U.S. Army because flames are primarily moving south, into the Fort Hunter Liggett Army territory.
Dolan Fire crews had to use a tool of last resort while defending a fire station on Nacimiento Ferguson Road. Fourteen firefighters deployed “fire shelters” as they were overrun by flames at Nacimienento Guard Station. A “fire shelter” is a thin aluminum bag that firefighters cover their bodies with before letting the fire burn over them.
The injured firefighters were flown in a helicopter to a hospital burn unit and they are expected to recover.
The Dolan Fire’s origin was in a remote region of wilderness. Fire crews used a unique tool, live “Condor Cams” at a California Condor wildlife sanctuary, to pinpoint the fire’s location and determine which direction it was spreading. One condor chick named “Iniko” could be seen in his nest peering out at the wildfire. Iniko’s nest camera cut out when the fire moved closer. Biologists with Ventana Wildlife Society said the chick amazingly survived thanks to his parents who built the nest in a fire-resistant Redwood tree.