SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — In 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex fires burned through over 86,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Over 1,000 homes were destroyed and the impacted communities still feel the reverberations of the disaster over five years later as they work to rebuild.

Tonje Switzer (right) received the Green Heart award in October, an honor named for Mountain Community Resources’ late founder, Mary Hammer. UC Santa Cruz alumna and Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Long Term Recovery Group Tonje Switzer (Oakes ’16 ...

The U.S. Coast Guard has released video showing a rescue of three people trapped by rising water near Panther Beach in Santa Cruz County, California, on May 17.Eight people were rescued after a rising

The Community Fire Preparedness and Resilience Fair was hosted by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings and the Bonny Doon Fire Safe Council at Bonny Doon Fire and Rescue’s Martin Station. The fair’s main event was a panel

Fire threatened the Meyers Mar Vista Winery in Santa Cruz, as featured in Wide World Magazine. The use of wine as fire retardant ultimately saved the building. When the CZU Lightning Complex fire devastated large swaths of Santa Cruz in 2020, the natural ...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) – A Santa Cruz Fire Ground Commander battling the CZU Lightning Complex Fire was robbed by looters over the weekend, according to Cal Fire. When the firefighter returned to his work vehicle he noticed his wallet was missing, and ...

SANTA CRUZ – As marine fog drifts between dead coastal redwoods, it dews onto purple lupines, soft yarrow and brown grasses. Five years after the CZU fires, shrubs, bugs and trail crews are hard at work at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, stewarding the ...

A young man died after falling from a cliff in Santa Cruz County, officials said.