Santa Cruz Mountains residents on edge as series of fires investigated as potential arson

Santa Cruz Mountains residents say they are unsettled by the news that local officials are looking into arson as the potential cause of four recent fires in the area — which, though small, have raised the grim specter of past blazes like the 1985 Lexington Fire and 2020 CZU fire that devastated the hills above Los Gatos.

Hans Johsens, who lives near the site of the largest of the four fires that took place within a few miles of each other on July 26, said he packed up his essential belongings as quickly as he could after getting an evacuation warning. Johsens grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and today lives near the site of the 1985 Lexington Fire.

Surrounded today by the still-blackened stumps of trees that were destroyed in that nearly 14,000-acre fire almost 40 years ago, Johsens said he’s worried about the possibility of more fires to come.

“When something is intentionally set, it has a very, very different effect on the residents in the area than if somebody is mowing their weeds and strikes a spark,” he said.

The fires all took place just south of the Lexington Reservoir near the Aldercroft Heights, Holy City and Chemeketa Park neighborhoods of unincorporated Los Gatos between July 15 and July 26. They ranged in size from less than 0.1 acres to more than one acre, according to the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

Fire officials had issued an evacuation warning to residents near the area of the largest fire on July 26, which they are calling the “Water Fire,” but lifted it after about two hours. While officials have not officially determined the fires to have been arson, they have deemed them “suspicious” and are investigating.

The county fire department, along with the county sheriff’s office and CalFire, hosted a community meeting on July 30 to discuss the fires that drew over 100 concerned residents who had questions about officials’ response to the incidents and their next steps in the investigation.

Matt Mokhtarian, a public information officer with Santa Clara County Fire, said residents in the area will likely see increased deputy patrols from the county sheriff’s office in light of the incidents. In addition, CalFire and County fire officials will be on the scene conducting their investigation into the fires.

“The fires themselves, due to their close proximity to each other and close in timeline, that in general is suspicious to fire investigators and law enforcement investigators,” Mokhtarian said.

Bill Murphy, battalion chief for Santa Clara County Fire, said at the community meeting that the four fires in neighborhoods are the only ones that have been reported to officials, though additional fires could have gone unreported.

“It is possible that there were other fires that we just never knew about because they were small, they didn’t go anywhere, nobody ever reported them,” he said.

Mokhtarian said CalFire is taking the lead on the investigation, with support from the county’s sheriff’s office and the county fire department.

Santa Clara County Fire Department fliers posted around the area encourage anyone with information about “arson caused fire” to call the county’s arson tip line at 888-341-4401.

CalFire spokesperson Chelsea Burkett declined to comment on the details of the investigation, saying officials will follow their standard process for investigating these recent fires.

Residents who live nearby are no strangers to the increased fire risk in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the difficulty of evacuating from more remote areas, but are now taking extra precautions.

Melany Moore, who lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains further away from the cluster of the four recent fires, said she has been working on clearing more dry vegetation near her house.

“Living up in the mountains requires you to do fire clearing every year, so you don’t worry so much,” she said.