Evacuation Orders Lifted For Bear Fire In Santa Cruz Mountains

BOULDER CREEK (CBS SF) -- Cal Fire officials announced Friday afternoon that a wildfire burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains is at 50 percent containment, leading fire officials to lift evacuation orders.

Cal Fire tweeted that the fire had grown to approximately 8 to 10 acres at 3:15 p.m.

The so-called Bear Fire in Boulder Creek began at around 11 a.m. Friday morning along Bear Creek Road and Mayfair Road.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said the Boulder Creek Fire Department was working with Cal Fire to fight the fire which began in a structure and spread to nearby vegetation.

The fire had reached 15 acres as of 12:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire. The Boulder Creek Fire Department said forward progress had nearly been halted as of about 1:20 p.m.

Multiple air tankers and helicopters were on scene, according to Cal Fire. "We have four air tankers in orbit actively dropping on the fire." said Cal Fire Unit Chief Ian Larkin. "And we have three helicopters dropping on the fire as well."

The air attack cornered and corralled the fire to roughly 25 acres, and bought time for reinforcements to move in on the ground.

No other structures were threatened, the sheriff's office said, and there were no mandatory evacuations currently in place.

Some residents on Red Hawk Canyon Road had self-evacuated, the sheriff's office said.