UpdatedWed, Jan 20, 2021 at 6:05 pm PT
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The Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit battled multiple wildfires all day Tuesday across the county, but primarily in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Renee Schiavone/Patch)
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA Officials have lifted all evacuation orders and firefighters expected full containment Wednesday night on most, if not all, of the wildfires blazing across Santa Cruz County.
Now, Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit Chief Ian Larkin is calling on the public to remain vigilant in the months to come, as this winter has been an unusually dry one. Fire is possible year-round, he said in a statement.
(AP Photo/Noah Berger)
(CN) California has experienced some of its worst fire seasons in recorded history the past few years, but one source of solace is that by January residents can finally relax until mid-summer.
Not so this January, as four fires in Santa Cruz County sparked by high winds prompted evacuations Tuesday while PG&E enacted another round of preemptive power shutoffs in select areas of the state.
Cal Fire crews also responded to a fire in San Mateo County on Tuesday afternoon that had grown to 10 acres with zero containment.
The Freedom Fire broke out just north of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, driven by extremely high winds and scorching about five to six acres of timber. The area was spared during the CZU Lightning Complex fires, a massive wildfire caused by a late-August lighting storm that burned in the Santa Cruz Mountains spanning Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.