Santa Cruz County grand jury assesses county leadership in aftermath of CZU Lightning Complex fire

A Santa Cruz County grand jury report issued June 24, examines -- in the face of dangerous, dry fire conditions -- if government leaders have reaped lessons from the CZU Complex and acted on residents' concerns in the aftermath.

SANTA CRUZ — Some 10 months after the CZU Lightning Complex fire ignited, residents are still piecing lives back together, and anxious as peak fire season approaches.

The blaze, which burned more than 63,700 acres in Santa Cruz County alone, also destroyed 911 homes in the region.

A Santa Cruz County grand jury report issued June 24, examines — in the face of dangerous, dry fire conditions — if government leaders have reaped lessons from the CZU Complex and acted on residents’ concerns in the aftermath.

By and large, according to the report, the answer is no.

The report focuses on how the County Board of Supervisors could take action to prepare the county for future wildfires, streamline emergency response and urge Cal Fire to further analyze and act on their performance in the historic fire.

Transparency and immediacy were two issues brought up in the report.

Community members surveyed wanted meetings with Cal Fire to be held sooner, according to the report. The local CZU Unit did host two such meetings in March, during which lessons learned on the fire were shared.

Concerns on staffing levels and preparation for a potential-next-mega fire were also brought up throughout the report.

As the Sentinel reported in June, heading into the peak dry season firefighting  staffing levels are at less than usual numbers, according to Cal Fire CZU Unit Chief Ian Larkin.

The grand jury report urges the county and Cal Fire to further prioritize vegetation and fire fuel management, in effort to safeguard communities from exacerbated fire risk.

Large-scale defensible space inspections and fuel reduction projects need to be more of a focus, according to the report. Further effort, the jurors argue, must go toward attaining funding for that work. In a 2020, grand jury ‘Ready? Aim? Fire!’ report, published prior to the CZU Complex, those same recommendations were also laid out.

Concerns were also raised about infrastructure vulnerability — in the case of the CZU Complex, power poles and cell towers were downed as evacuation orders were being implemented. Some residents were without electricity, reception and Wi-Fi — essentially a tether to the outer world.

Santa Cruz County Communications Manager Jason Hoppin focused on the overall success the evacuation effort was.

“We did evacuate close to 70,000 people, which geographically is one third of the county and we only had the one death in Last Chance,” Hoppin said. “That’s a wall of fire situation and for the most part we got everybody out safe.”

Hoppin also pointed to the effort of Santa Cruz County Sherriff deputies who made door-to-door evacuation notifications, which will continue to be the standard.

With the fire and debris flow scares this last winter, Hoppin said he thinks residents are more ready than ever to evacuate.

“I think there was a notion in the community that these large types of fires didn’t happen here and now we know that’s not the case,” Hoppin said. “There’s been a profound mindset change in our residents who now know and understand that wildfires pose a clear and present danger to the community.”

In making its recommendations, the jury interviewed county officials, residents, attended meetings, and researched various accounts of the fire. The Santa Cruz County grand jury is made up of 19 residents, and is an independent body that investigates regional issues, local government agencies and examines community member complaints.

The jury urged the Board of Supervisors to launch an investigation into Cal Fire on its preparedness for future fires, response to the CZU Complex, as well as push the agency to answer resident’s questions raised in the report. In addition, the report authors recommended that the board require Cal Fire to conduct an after action review.

The Sentinel inquired to Cal Fire’s CZU Unit about such a report, and was pointed to the March community meetings, as well as the statewide report titled ‘2020 Fire Siege’, in which some findings on the CZU Complex are covered.

The county, though, will publish an after action review on the CZU Complex by the end of the year, Hoppin said.

‘The CZU…Fire – Learn…or Burn?’ report also points back to the 2020 report on fire preparedness. The Board of Supervisors are urged to revisit those recommendations and draft new, up-to-date responses, according to the document.

Finally, the report requests that the board to advocate for funding from the state over the next six months for fire preparation work, and prevention activities, such as fuel reductions.

A bright spot in the document is the reported effectiveness and helpfulness of the County Office of Response, Recovery, & Resilience.

The County Board of Supervisors are required to formulate responses to the juror’s report within 90 days of its publication. Supervisors Bruce McPherson and Ryan Coonerty, whose districts suffered extensive damage in the blaze, are required to respond within 60 days.