SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — A large brush fire burning in Santa Cruz County has died down but has not yet been extinguished, according to Cal Fire CZU.
Fire officials say fire retardant is surrounding the Estrada Fire, which is about 148 acres and 60% contained as of Sunday afternoon.
Crews made significant progress on Friday night and Saturday.
Evacuations orders were issued for the following areas but have since been lifted.
- PAJ-E001
- PAJ-E002
- PAJ-E003
- PAJ-E007
- Pajaro area
The evacuation warning for zone CRZ-E046 (Summit area) was also lifted.
Corralitos Community Center located at 26 Browns Valley Road was used as an evacuation center.
CAL Fire said the blaze started because of a scheduled “prescribed burn” earlier on Friday.
A prescribed burn is a planned burn, also known as a ‘controlled burn.’
KRON4 asked Cal Fire Chief Angela Bernheisel to explain how a ‘controlled burn’ got out of control.
A prescribed burn that was scheduled for Sunday or Monday at TomKat Ranch has now been canceled as weather conditions are not expected to be ideal.
Check back for updates.