Coastal Peninsula Cities Urge Visitors To Stay Home

HALF MOON BAY, CA — Two coastal cities have a message for anyone considering their beaches this weekend: Stay home.

The cities of Half Moon Bay and Pacifica are hoping to keep visitors from clogging local roads that could potentially be an impediment to emergency vehicle access and critical evacuation routes as the CZU Lightning Complex fires rage through southern San Mateo and northern Santa Cruz counties.

The fires ravaging the Santa Cruz Mountains grew about 2,000 acres overnight for a total of 50,000 acres burned, according to the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit (CZU).

The CZU August Lightning Complex fires burning across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties remain at zero percent containment and are burning in areas that may have never seen wildfire before.

The city of Half Moon Bay announced in a newsletter Thursday it planned to make an official announcement in coordination with the city of Pacifica and the county Friday morning “urging people NOT to come to the coast this weekend, or any time during this extreme fire situation.”

Half Moon Bay City Manager Bob Nisbet signed an Executive Order Thursday shuttering city beaches from sunrise Friday through sunrise Monday.

“With Highway 1 closed south of Pescadero, there is even more pressure on Highway 92 and smaller roads in and around Half Moon Bay, and the influx of additional traffic will only serve to complicate and potentially cause serious delays in emergency response and evacuations from the south,” the newsletter said.

For updates on the fires and evacuation orders, please visit the San Mateo County web page.

The evacuation center at the Half Moon Bay High School is open for check-in, information, and resources. It is not an overnight shelter, and donations of clothing and household items are not currently being accepted. COVID-19 protocols are in place. Monetary donations are being accepted by Puente.

An additional evacuation center has been set up at the San Mateo County Event Center as well. Resources for evacuees are available at https://www.visithalfmoonbay.org/biz.

— Patch editor Courtney Teague contributed to this report