DAVENPORT, Calif. — Thousands of firefighters battled wildfires across California on Thursday, including a growing blaze that forced about 2,400 people to evacuate their homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The Lockheed Fire, which started around 7 p.m. Wednesday, had scorched about 2,800 acres, or 4.4 square miles, in Santa Cruz County, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The blaze, about 10 miles north of the coastal city of Santa Cruz, threatened more than 1,000 homes and other buildings and was not contained by late afternoon.
Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday for the entire community of Bonny Doon, which has about 2,000 residents and several wineries, said CalFire spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson.
Everyone also has been ordered to leave the nearby community of Swanton, where about 400 people live.
“It’s a significant fire that is burning in a rural, inaccessible, steep terrain with vegetation that has been stressed by the drought,” Hutchinson said. “It’s like having firewood in your fireplace that’s dry and ready to burn.”
The blaze is about three miles from the site of last year’s Martin Fire, which burned 520 acres and destroyed 11 buildings in the Bonny Doon area in June 2008.
There have been no reports of injuries or property damage related to the fire, whose cause is under investigation, said CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant.
Law enforcement officers went door to door Thursday as residents watered down their homes, aiming sprinklers and hoses at the rooftops. They loaded bicycles, pets, computers and other valuables into their cars and trucks.
Many had to evacuate last year when flames threatened the area.
Nancy Macallister said she was disappointed about the mandatory evacuation but said it’s reasonable.
“The fire’s big, the fire’s hot, there’s some rough terrain and the afternoon winds should be coming this direction, so it makes sense. They’re trying to keep people safe,” she said.
A shelter for evacuees was set up in Santa Cruz, where Linda Lemaster arrived early Thursday after leaving her house on Last Chance Road near Swanton.
When she got a recorded call to evacuate, she grabbed some of her son’s paintings, photos, bedding and some food, she said. Her boyfriend stayed behind to take care of the cats and property.
As she drove away, she saw thick smoke and flames.
“I thought of volcano lava the way it was moving in through the trees,” said Lemaster, 60. “If it had kept going like that, it would have headed right to my house.”
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