BONNY DOON, Calif., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A growing wildfire in northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from their homes Thursday, officials said.
Santa Cruz County spokeswoman Dinah Phillips said the 2,800-acre Lockheed Fire near Bonny Doon, Calif., was moving through inaccessible steep terrain of timber and heavy brush toward homes, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
She said more than 300 firefighters from the San Francisco Bay area were fighting the blaze using planes and helicopters. Offshore winds gusting to 15 mph were driving the fire but winds were expected to diminish late Thursday, the Chronicle said.
There were no reports of injuries or damage to homes late Thursday, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
Robert Lee, an employee of a door and window mill near the fire, told the newspaper he could feel the blaze approaching.
"We're on the coast here, and ash is coming down on us," he said. "We're hesitant, we're looking out the window to see that the smoke is either clearing or not. It seems to be denser. We're concerned, but we're watchful."
The isolated Highway 1 village of Bonny Doon was ordered evacuated about 11 a.m. Thursday, officials said, emptying 1,000 homes. The Chronicle said an evacuation center had been set up at a school in Davenport, Calif., and the Red Cross had established a shelter at a local church.
Meanwhile, firefighters tried to contain a 29,000-acre forest fire east of Santa Maria in Central California as investigators sought the public's help in locating the driver of a late-model Chevy van last seen in the area where the fire was first spotted, the Los Angeles Times reported.
U.S. Forest Service special agents said they wanted to talk to the driver to learn why he was in the area about the time the blaze began.
