Santa Cruz County brush fires close northbound Highway 1, trigger evacuation order
Crews with Cal Fire and Santa Cruz County have stopped forward progress of multiple brush fires that shut down northbound Highway 1 and triggered an evacuation order on the southern end of the county Monday, authorities said.
Both the Santa Cruz County Central Fire District and Cal Fire CZU Twitter accounts posted about the response to the fires with video showing heavy smoke in the area of Watsonville.
The Santa Cruz CHP Twitter account also posted a photo and noted that far two northbound lanes on Highway 1 near Buena Vista Dr. were closed due to the response to the so-called Buena Fire. CHP later announced that northbound Highway 1 was completely closed at Buena Vista Dr. and that traffic was being diverted to Airport Blvd.
‼️ Traffic Alert 🚨 The far two lanes on NB HWY 1 near Buena Vista Dr. are closed due to multiple fires. 🔥 Please be patient as our firefighters work to extinguish them. 🚒 Avoid the area and stay tuned for updates on reopening. Stay safe! #TrafficAlert #HWY1 #CHP pic.twitter.com/5SHUvoV9aX
— CHP Santa Cruz (@CHPscrz) October 21, 2024
There were reports of structures possibly being threatened and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff was working to evacuate a small area near the fire. There were also evacuation warnings in several areas, though as of around 2:15 p.m. forward progress on the fire was stopped. Acreage was estimated at about two acres.
An evacuation point was set up at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. By late Monday afternoon, some highway lanes had reopened and the evacuation order and warnings were lifted.