Lockheed Fire [Santa Cruz] Nearing Containment
The fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains has now burned over 7,200 acres and is 80% contained at a current cost of $14.8 million.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the Lockheed Fire nears containment as damage assessments begin, showing the shift in emphasis, and then reports some good news about the the effects of the fire: Recent flames could prompt explosion of manzanita species found nowhere else
SANTA CRUZ — For rare plant biologists, the Lockheed Fire burning in the Santa Cruz mountains is like a long, drawn-out Christmas Eve.
In just a few weeks, fresh manzanita shoots are expected to poke up from many places in the blackened soil. Biologists like Grey Hayes, a Bonny Doon resident for the past 23 years, hope that many of them will germinate from a large, previously dormant seed bank — collected over the past 60 years — that is chock full of fresh starts for species now considered biologically rare and endangered.
The plants have taken so long to come forward, Hayes said, because they require flames to pass over before they can sprout. The last fire burned that area in 1948.
The natural environment has adapted to fire, and even occasionally requires it. Man always wants to adapt the environment to his preferences.
Currently there are 221 engines, 46 crews, 16 dozers, 28 water tenders, 6 helicopters, 6 air tankers, and 2,213 personnel assigned to the fire.
Links: Cal Fire Lockheed Fire page, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, the Santa Cruz Sentinel local news page, and their map of the Lockheed Fire.
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