Cruzio’s team roams Santa Cruz County, putting up and maintaining communications infrastructure. We’re often in high places: on rooftops or mountain peaks, and we had great views of the thing that’s been hovering above us for the last several days: the smoke-filled sky.
Cruzio has a lot of talented photographers on staff, and they posted photos of what they were seeing.
What Started the Fires
A lightning storm before dawn on Sunday, August 16th. Santa Cruz almost never gets lightning, but that night was wild. The storm was accompanied by little or no rain.
From a weather app, Sunday, August 16th, 4:26 am.
From Above
From high up where some of Cruzio’s facilities are located, we can see big changes occurring when the wind shifts and fire kicks up. First a trail of smoke rises, then the hills are laid over with creeping grey, and then, sometimes, the wind changes and skies are blue again.
Monday mountaintop:
View from Loma Prieta, Monday August 17th, 2020. Photo by John Beardwood.
Wednesday mountaintop:
View from Loma Prieta, Monday August 17th, 2020. Photo by John Beardwood.
View from Loma Prieta Mountain, Weds August 19th. Photo by Cameron Kennedy.
View from Loma Prieta Mountain, Weds August 19th. Photo by Cameron Kennedy.
Friday mountaintop:
Looking towards Gilroy Friday, August 19th, 2020. Alison Lowenthal.
Looking towards Gilroy Friday, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Alison Lowenthal.
Note: the skies were blue on Friday, but that’s because the wind was favorable to that particular mountaintop that morning. Conditions are still shifting, and blue skies often give way to overhead smoke.
Around Santa Cruz County
When Cruzio staff are driving around town, it’s been almost eerie. As Field Operations staffer Sonya says “I said it before and I’ll say it again, It looks like an apocalypse movie.”
In the last week, the sky has gone from grey-yellow to various shades of orange, with occasional spots of blue peering through. The sun? A glowering red circle.
When the sky was orange
West Side Santa Cruz Weds, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Sonya Campbell.
On a roof. West Side Santa Cruz Weds, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Sonya Campbell.
Laurel Street, Santa Cruz, Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Hans Morales.
East Side Santa Cruz, Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Mark Hanford.
Monterey Bay from West Cliff Drive, Weds, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Peggy Dolgenos.
“Mood,” Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Jason Smidt.
877 Cedar Street, Thursday, August 20th, 2020. Photo by Evan Powers.
When the sky was grey
Rooftop, Santa Cruz, Thursday August 20th, 2020. Photo by Cameron Kennedy.
First photo, Capitola, Friday August 21st, 2020. Photo by Evan Powers.
Five minutes later, much worse. Capitola, Friday August 21st, 2020. Photo by Evan Powers.
Air quality on Friday, August 21st, 2020. Photo by Jason Smidt.
Our Trucks in Many Places
Our staff has traveled all around the county and up into the Bay Area when necessary to maintain and repair equipment. Cruzio staff have uploaded some photos of our heroic trucks looking out over a smoke- and fire-colored landscape.
Cruzio’s truck on Loma Prieta, Weds, August 19th, 2020. Photo by Cameron Kennedy.
Cruzio truck on Bay Street, Thursday, August 20th, 2020. Photo by Sonya Campbell.
Why Communications Can Sometimes be Difficult
And here’s a picture from a security camera on a communications tower in Bonny Doon, as the tower was engulfed by fire and destroyed.
