LAKE COUNTY — The Summit Fire was fully contained as of 6 p.m. Tuesday. The cause of the fire that ravaged 4,270 acres south of the town of Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz coastal mountain range is unknown and under investigation. Thirty-one residential and 63 outbuildings were destroyed by the flames.
So far, the fire cost $12.2 million to put out, according to Cal Fire. In the week following the start of the fire shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday, May 22, a total of 2,519 firefighters comprised of 91 crews with 141 engines, three airtankers, two helicopters, 15 dozers and 33 water tenders combated the blaze.
All road closures and evacuations have been lifted.
“Narrow roads, hot spots and hazard trees are safety concerns for residents allowed back into the fire area today,” according to a statement by Cal Fire Wednesday.
According to Cal Fire spokesman Chris Morgan, 12 minor injuries occurred to firefighters and no citizens were injured in the fire. “They were all minor injuries ? sprains, strains, someone got a cut ? they have all been treated and released,” Morgan said.
He said firefighters “from all over the state of California” helped out. Cal Fire had 2,000 personnel fighting and the additional 519-plus were from various fire departments as far away as L.A. county.
Cal Fire”s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit headed to the mountains a week ago with a strike team of 16 firefighters and five engines, and additional crews of 37 firefighters and two bulldozers.
Last Friday, crews from area fire departments got a 12:30 a.m. call to drive to Santa Cruz, according to Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells.
Four firefighters from Lakeport, one from Kelseyville, and three from Northshore fire departments left last week and will likely remain there until today or Friday.
They worked Tuesday for a 24 hour period in the Loma Prieta area, Wells said.
“They were protecting a lot of structures in Madonna Park, right now they”re doing mop-up. Everybody”s safe, and we”ve had no break-downs,” he said.
Demobilization ? when engines and vehicles are inspected and equipment packed away ? will start for the Lake County crews today.
“We haven”t really heard a lot from them. A lot of the cell towers were knocked out in the area. Only when they”re back at base camp have we heard from them, and then they”re usually tired,” Wells said.
The fire did not affect Highway 17, and residents in Santa Cruz and Los Gatos were not affected, other than “seeing the big mushroom cloud” of smoke, Morgan said.
Morgan said the weather initially helped fan the flames, and then the coastal influence helped calm the fire.
“The fog definitely helped, and the humidity stayed up. There was a lot of wind for the first few days, but it got progressively less ? anywhere between 6 to 12 mph. The humidity today is 48 percent. It”s a little cloudy, a little breezy and reasonably cool,” Morgan said.
It”s an early start to a dry fire season this year, fire officials said.
“We”ve already started wildland fire training and checked equipment to make sure it”s up to snuff,” Wells said.
Cal Fire will employ more staff on each engine starting July 1. Called “4-0 staffing” it”s a directive by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that boosts staff from three people per engine to four. Area fire departments don”t increase staffing during the fire season, according to Wells, but they do “work really close with Cal Fire,” in terms of preparing for the fire season.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com
