Santa Cruz County asks visitors, tourists to leave immediately

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) The County of Santa Cruz is asking that people visiting from out of town leave immediately to allow for more shelter capacity.

The county said it needs local hotels, motels and vacation rentals because local shelters are nearing capacity. County officials are working with cities, colleges and universities, school district and others to increase capacity.

The county said current and anticipated evacuations from the CZU August Lightning Complex Fires are unprecedented.

Any new visitors are asked to avoid the county.

For information about housing, call 211 or the Red Cross at 1-866-272-2237. For help evacuating animals, call 831-471-1182. The county said the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, which is acting as an evacuation center, can board horses.

For those who want to donate, the County said it needs tents and cases of water. Those can be delivered to the warehouse at the back of the Emeline complex at 1082 Emeline Avenue in Santa Cruz.