Santa Cruz County Officers Raise Evacuation Orders For CZU Fireplace Burn Zone – CBS San Francisco

BOULDER CREEK (CBS SF) – With the sky lightening and a strong atmospheric river moving south, Santa Cruz County officials announced Monday that they are lifting evacuation orders for residents who are in or near the burn scar life left by the massive fire of the CZU complex in 2020.

The order went into effect on Sunday in parts of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, where fears were heightened about the fire-ravaged areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains’ ability to withstand the torrential rains.

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The National Weather Service reported that the mountain town of Ben Lomond had fallen 7 inches in the past 24 hours, but the hills seemed to be holding up.

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Many residents ignored the order and survived the storm in their homes.

“Yes, we’ll stay tuned,” said Steven Coleman from Boulder Creek to KPIX 5 on Saturday night. “Where else should we go?”

Those who stayed cited their experiences of dealing with large storms, evacuation fatigue, and fear of looting.

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“We’ll stay until it gets unsafe,” said Coleman.

“We decided to stay,” said another resident of Gloria Sitz.

Most people like Sitz either stayed with family and friends or paid more than a month for hotel rooms during last year’s CZU fire evacuation.

They said they don’t want to deal with it anymore.

“At my location we have a generator, we have chainsaws, we know how to use it, and we are prepared,” said Sitz.

There were lines at the local gas station in Boulder Creek on Saturday night as residents filled gas cans to power their generators.

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“If the power goes out, we have extra power,” said Alfredo Ramirez, who had just filled a five-gallon can. He also stopped.