20 homes, 3100 acres destroyed by Summit Fire

Fire investigators, after slavishly combing the Santa Cruz Mountains, believe they have pinpointed the spot where the treacherous Summit fire was sparked: an empty lot in the woods along Summit Road, near where it becomes Loma Prieta Road, at mile marker 7.53.
Planting red, blue and yellow markers two Cal Fire investigators on Friday tracked the direction of the conflagration to a clearing, closed off by a rusted chain slung between two trees. No other information is available about the site, which is being treated as a crime scene.

"This is the only area where we are looking," said Cal Fire spokesman Jim Pope.

The agency, however, still has not identified a cause in the blaze, but they have ruled out lightning and downed power lines. Held in check most of its second day by a change in winds, the fire has chewed through more than 3,100 acres and destroyed at least 28 structures, including 17 residences. By Friday afternoon, it remained only 20 percent contained.

Still the mercurial nature of those gusts remained the central actor in a drama playing out across the charred mountainsides, where hundreds of residents faced yet another sleepless night of worry, and down into the smoky Santa Clara Valley, where the acrid stink of burning wood promises to linger throughout the Memorial Day weekend.

Near tiny Corralitos, many residents were keeping up their desperate vigil as firefighters beat back the fire's once-fierce southern edge. On the blaze's northern edge, firefighters were digging deep to protect homes once deemed safe. Down in Santa Clara County, schoolchildren were being kept inside to escape the ever-expanding billows of smoke.
"There is still an awful lot work to do," Cal Fire spokesman David Shew said Friday evening, "but the weather is in our favor and we are pretty confident that we will be able to keep it to its current size and it will be 100 percent contained within a few days."

A crew of firefighters stood ready before 2 p.m. at Summit and Pole Line roads at the northeast corner of the fire. The wind, no longer pushing the fire south, was instead threatening to send the flames their way.

"It all depends on the wind," said strike team leader Mike Virden with Fresno's 5101 Alpha Unit, as he stood on the porch of one of about six homes in the area. "If the wind picks up, it's headed this way and we will have a fight on our hands."

His team had been cutting fire lines by hand. The thick smoke made it too difficult for helicopters to fly through dumping water and fire retardant.

Homeowner Norma Nohrden, who returned Friday was relieved to find her house still standing in the South Summit community. Her home includes a hot tub overlooking the canyons and a view of the bay. She bought it in 2002, one month before the Croy fire ravaged 34 homes.

"It's a beautiful place, it's very calm," said Nohrden, who evacuated Thursday morning, "but it's not for the faint-of-heart."

By afternoon the winds around Corralitos had increased, said Santa Cruz County Sgt. Fred Plageman. Instead of the soft eastern wind that had helped firefighters, air began moving to the south and the west, propelling flames over one fire line at Ramsey Gulch.

Officials were starting to notify residents along Hazeldell, Green Valley Road, Old Mt. Madonna Road, the top of Smith road; and Casserly Road, calling those streets "threatened." No evacuations were in place, but anyone with livestock was urged to make plans to move it.

Friday also brought fresh anxiety for dozens of displaced residents of Corralitos. Many had gathered around a sheriff's deputy at noon, shouting out their addresses, wanting to know whether their houses were saved.

"What about Buzzard's Lagoon," one woman called out.

"Know anything about Tindall Ranch?"

"Anything on Upper Highland?"

The fire was spotty at Buzzard's Lagoon, said Sgt. Plageman. Some houses were affected, Tindall Ranch and Upper Highland were hit.

But gave no specifics, except this: "We're not letting anyone in."

For a second day, the evacuees gathered in the Little Corralitos Plaza, across from the market, commiserating about what's left of their lives.

Marissa Miranda, 22, whose mom lives on Dove Lane in Corralitos was feeling optimistic early in the day that her home would be OK. But by 1 p.m., Miranda said through tears that she thinks her mother's street is on fire and her mom's house is lost. Authorities won't let her family up there, though, for safety reasons, to find out for sure.

"We're struggling," she said. "This is really hard."

Expressing sympathy for the approximately 1,000 evacuees left to worry and watch as the fire rages, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an hourlong appearance at base camp in Gilroy's Christmas Hill Park on Friday morning.

He nodded and asked questions about the shifting wind during a quick briefing and then held an equally brief news conference. Before leaving, he greeted some of the dozens of firefighters streaming back into camp, their faces blackened by soot.

"Our hearts go out to anyone who lost property," Schwarzenegger said, "a home, or animals or anything else. "

When the governor was driven to the south end of the camp, toward the chow lines, dozens of weary firefighters were grabbing their first sit-down meals in more than a day. He shook hands with several of them, filing through the rows of picnic tables laden with Pop-Tarts, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and salsa, bacon and sausages.

One firefighter impressed the governor with his muscles. "I think he's taking his dumbbells up there and doing a few curls," the former Mr. Universe replied.

"It was a long night," said Woodside firefighter Don Bullard, who sat down to eat with Menlo park firefighter, Tony Eggimann. "We call it billy goat country, because it's so steep and rocky. I'm ready for a nap."

Neither of them had seen this kind of fire this early in the year and in this location. Bullard was resigned to a long firefighting season:

"We're going to be out a lot this year," he said. "Hold onto your hats."

With winds so unpredictable, they weren't even sure what the weekend would hold, let alone the rest of the long, dry summer.

"We could even go back out tonight," Eggimann said. "You never know."

Indeed, those winds blew ash and smoke away from Santa Cruz County and toward the summit and into northwestern Santa Clara County, where residents reported smelling smoke. Santa Clara County public health authorities were advising people who can see or smell smoke to stay inside and keep windows and doors shut.

"When heavy smoke is visible outside, it's important to take steps to reduce the chance the having breathing problems," said Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County health officer. "If you have one, it is a good idea to run your air-conditioner."

School districts including Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Mountain View-Los Altos and Palo Alto kept children inside during recess and physical education classes. Some also did the same for lunch.

More than 20 people spent Thursday night at an American Red Cross shelter at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, which will remain open until evacuated residents may return to their homes or until they find alternative housing.

Their best hope Friday was the weather - calm, overcast skies and patchy fog.

"There's no wind. It's foggy, cold and drizzly. It's nice," said Chris Morgan, a fire protection specialist with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

About 500 firefighters worked through the night, and were joined by 200 more firefighters from throughout the state this morning. This afternoon, about 1,100 firefighters had been tapped from across the state to fight the blaze. State fire officials using more accurate mapping techniques this morning revised down previous estimates of the fire's acreage.

"We have to strike now while we have the advantage," Morgan said. With the fire 20 percent contained, crews continued clearing a perimeter ring. The fire was still threatening 500 homes and 20 commercial buildings. No injuries have been reported.

More than 160 engines, with one posted to each threatened home, have been dispatched, Morgan said. So far, the fire has cost to fight, Morgan said.

Matt McElhinny, a 16-year firefighting veteran from Mendocino County who'd spent the last 20 hours battling the blaze was expecting to work through the Memorial Day weekend.

"Someone has it off," he said, "but it's not us."