Crime & Safety

'Very Scary' Discovery Made In Santa Cruz Mountains

Fire weather researchers found an unprecedented sight when they ventured to a peak this month.

The Cal Fire San Mateo Santa Cruz branch previously warned that 2021 could be a bad fire year in the region.
The Cal Fire San Mateo Santa Cruz branch previously warned that 2021 could be a bad fire year in the region. (Renee Schiavone/Patch)

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, CA — Researchers with the San Jose State University Fire Weather Research Laboratory noted a "very scary" development this month atop the Santa Cruz Mountains.

"Wow, never seen April fuels look so... dry," they wrote on Twitter. "No new growth anywhere."

April is usually a month where researchers observe lots of new and old growth, said Craig Clements, SJSU professor and the center director, in an interview with SFGate. Scientists typically observe the highest moisture levels in plants in April.

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But this time when the crew climbed to the South Bay peak of Mount Umunhum, researchers were unable to take new clippings, he told SFGate. There was no new growth to clip.

Dry fuels mean plants are more likely to burn.

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This discovery comes months after a record-setting wildfire season in the Golden State.

The CZU August Lightning Complex Fire, which scorched more than 86,500 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains was among the most destructive in state history. The blaze was also the worst in Santa Cruz County history.

Local fire officials have already sounded the alarm about the 2021 fire season.

The Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit, which oversees the bulk of the Santa Cruz Mountains region, warned last week that the area could see a "potentially significant wildfire year" after an unusually high number of wildland fires over the week prior. Firefighters battled five wildfires that week and needed air resources to fight several of them, a means that is usually not necessary until early June.

Rainfall totals are half of what they usually are by this point in the year, Cal Fire CZU said. The dry and warm conditions, combined with ongoing drought, mean that "fuels are apt to burn."

Officials warned people to stop conducting burn piles, which were responsible for several of the fires over the last week, adding that a burn ban may be put in place.

— Patch Editor Eric He contributed to this report


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