Gilroy SCU Lightening Complex Fire Update August 25, 2020

From the City of Gilroy:

August 25, 2020

We’ve had good news this week as the National Weather Service canceled their Red Flag Warning and we’ve had much more mild-tempered weather than was earlier predicted. CalFire has also downgraded a few of their Evacuation Orders to Warnings. Currently, there are no Evacuation Orders or Warnings within the City of Gilroy. The large amount of agricultural land on the east side of Gilroy provides a buffer between the City and the fire area which gives our area an advantage when it comes to orders and warnings. This advantage could change at any time, dependent on the weather, but does provide some insight into recent evacuation orders and warnings.

CalFire is currently working on creating a fire break from I-5 to Gilroy, following the perimeter of the fire’s edge. An additional fire break is being created from Highway 152 near Gilroy, following the western edge of the fire.

As of this morning at 7:00 AM the SCU Lightning Complex Fire was 15% contained and had 1,393 personnel, 162 engines, 40 bulldozers, and 5 helicopters working to contain the fire.

CalFire has announced that they will be holding a press conference today, August 25 at 3:00 PM to provide an overview of the fire, upcoming weather, and evacuation orders. The press conference will be live streamed via twitter @CALFIRESCU.

A CalFire Base Camp has now been established at Christmas Hill Park to support operations on the southern and western sections of the SCU Fire. The Ranch Side of Christmas Hill Park is CLOSED to the public until further notice.

Resources:

• Evacuation Resource Center: Ann Sobrato High School located at 401 Burnett Ave., Morgan Hill CA 95037
• Reduced Hotel Rates are Available for Evacuees and Fire Victims through "San Jose Cares": https://www.sanjose.org/sanjosecares
• County of Santa Clara EOC Wildfire Hotline: 408-808-7778
• CalFire Evacuation Map: http://www.tinyurl.com/scu-evacmap
• Santa Clara County Community Information, Resources and Updates: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/oes/Pages/czu-scu-lghtng-complx-fires.aspx
• CalFire Incident Page with Up to Date Information Regarding Local Fires: http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents
• AirNow Interactive Map Showing Current Air Quality in the Bay Area: http://tiny.cc/ri1psz

Sign Up for County Emergency Alerts and Warnings through AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/oes/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx

Sign Up for Gilroy Emergency Alerts and Warnings through Nixle: https://www.nixle.com/

This press release was produced by the City of Gilroy. The views expressed are the author's own.