Santa Cruz - cyclists asked to avoid fire areas

[richardmasoner]

CalFire is asking cyclists to stay away from the fire areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the area of the Soquel Forest.

Basically, fire mop up operations are still under way. Over 30 people lost their homes and there are still hot spots in the area. Cyclists are being asked to avoid these roads for the next week and weekend.

Apparently, there was a flood of people going into the fire area on roads last weekend. It resulted in lots of problems for the folks trying to put out the last hot spots and do clean-up work. They had traffic jams, problems with bikers zipping by heavy equipment and other safety issues. Would you please help us by letting folks know it would be best if they held off visiting the area for another week? By the way, Highland Way was closed at the slide last Sunday.

From somebody who lives in the area:
As a resident of the area, I totally agree with the above letter. I understand people's curiosity to see the fire area, but it is best to wait awhile. The roads are still full of fire crews, water tankers and tree crews. Eureka Canyon is a narrow road and is hazardous to drive or ride anyways, but with all the heavy equipment up here it is even more dangerous. Please spread the word to your mountain and road bike buddies.

[johnny99]

Are you talking about last week? This week? Is there an official press release with dates and contact information?

[richardmasoner]

Are you talking about last week? This week? Is there an official press release with dates and contact information?

Just an email that's going around the local lists. I've heard last weekend was a mess, but I'm honestly surprised to hear that "mop up" operations are still going on.

[johnny99]

Maybe the announcement is 2 weeks old and already expired. No way to tell from that cropped version of the message. If this really originated from a government agency, it should have dates and contact info embedded in the message.

[ericm979]

Unfortunately someone cut out the identifying info- the post to SVBC just included the name "Thom".

But it sounds right and makes sense. Mop-up on a fire that big can take weeks (I used to be a firefighter, mop up is hard and boring work). It's a job that takes as long as it takes, it's not always possible to predict exactly. Eureka Canyon is one of the main paved roads into the fire area. So there'll be a lot of fire trucks going up and down it not to mention more traffic from residents.

This site http://www.kusp.org/fire/ which was last updated June 4 says "All roads in the area are now open, although drivers and residents are advised to be aware that fire crews will continue to be working in the are for weeks to come."

Eureka Canyon is on one of my favorite loops but I'll be staying off it for a few more weeks.