Some fire evacuees in the Santa Cruz Mountains received mixed messages messages as they scrambled to flee their homes.
Around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Kevin, who lives near the Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountains, received an emergency text alert from CAL FIRE telling him to evacuate immediately as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires grew bigger.
"But later (we got) a text that they actually just meant the Boulder Creek area and we weren’t initially included in that," he said. "But then by 11:30 we got another text that yes, in fact, we were supposed to evacuate. A little bit confusing."
Thankfully, by the time he was notified that he and his family were in fact supposed to evacuate, Kevin had already managed to flag down a sheriff’s deputy who told them to flee, and they were able to leave their home safely.
CAL FIRE told KCBS Radio that their emergency alerts are pushed out through local law enforcement agencies, so it is possible that there was a miscommunication.
"I’m actually relieved to just be evacuated and out of the area," said Kevin.
CAL FIRE spokesperson Robert Foxworthy said Kevin and his family made the right call to evacuate early.
"The last thing that we want to do is have someone get hurt with a preventable accident from staying too long. If you can get out early, do so...before it becomes an emergency, when you actually have time to do so and are able to get out safely."
