San Mateo Co. Area Fires: Expect To See Smoke In Coming Months

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — Rainfall has brought respite for Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz County firefighters who've battled 18 wildfires across the region in recent days.

Cal Fire took a victory lap early Friday, thanking everyone who scrambled to battle the blazes, which sparked within an 18-hour time frame late Monday and into Tuesday, scorching a combined 86,000 acres as of Thursday night. Most of those fires occurred in the Santa Cruz Mountains area, where the CZU August Lightning Complex Fires burned just months ago.

It's raining! We would like to take a moment to say "thank you" to all agencies, first responders and personnel who worked to help put out the fires within our unit this week. All emergencies are a team effort, and we are grateful for each and every partnership!
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) January 22, 2021

Now that rain has come, Cal Fire is now in "monitor mode," meaning residents can "expect to see occasional smokes" in the months ahead.

"Cal Fire will continue to monitor all fires and take action as warranted," the agency wrote.

Most wildfires were fully or almost contained as of Thursday night. Evacuation orders were lifted Wednesday.

The Freedom Fire east of Aptos and north of Watsonville continued to burn, though it had reached 85 percent containment at 37 acres as of 6 p.m.

Near hurricane-force winds were reported in the Santa Cruz Mountains early Tuesday and windy weather prompted Pacific Gas & Electric Co. outages across California. About 25,000 in Santa Cruz County lost power Tuesday.

Cal Fire continues to investigate the cause of the fires, but said they likely followed downed trees, tree limbs and power lines as a result of the windstorm. The agency declined to say whether PG&E equipment was found in the area of the wildfires, citing its policy not to discuss such matters during a pending investigation.

Read more: Power Lines Suspected; Containment Grows In Fires