Arrest made after illegal burn barrel fire spreads to Boulder Creek vegetation – Santa Cruz Sentinel

BOULDER CREEK — Not far from the destruction wrought by the 400-acre Bear Fire in 2018, authorities arrested a Hartman Creek Road resident in connection with an unauthorized burn barrel they say spread uncontrollably on his property over the weekend.

Cal Fire’s CZU unit responded to a reported fire Saturday around noon in the 200 block of Hartman Creek Road in the Deer Creek watershed. The fire spread through trash piled outside the barrel to nearly 4,400 square feet of nearby forest, brush and several vehicles, according to a statement from Cal Fire spokeswoman Cecile Juliet. No injuries were reported.

“The owner, an adult female, was recognized as someone who had been previously informed of the burning rules and who had been warned not to burn again after previous escaped fires at the same address,” Juliette wrote in the press release.

Cal Fire law enforcement officers booked the homeowner, whose identity the agency did not release, into Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of recklessly starting an illegal fire after burning forest land, a criminal charge.