GILROY
A dark plume of smoke that towered north of Gilroy Wednesday afternoon was part of a controlled burn of almost 1,000 acres on Mount Hamilton, near the Lick Observatory, said Ken McGeever, South County battalion chief for CalFire.
Soon after officials started the fire about 11 a.m., heavy smoke could be seen as far south as Hollister, leaving South County residents wondering if another fire had ignited in Henry W. Coe State Park.
On Sept. 3, Margaret Pavese, a 51-year-old San Juan Bautista school teacher accidentally started a blaze that charred nearly 50,000 acres in the park and required more than 1,700 firefighters, 250 vehicles and $12.5 million to extinguish. Pavese is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 11 on charges of failing to exercise reasonable care in the disposal of flammable materials – a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
The controlled burn is part of an effort to rid the area of unnatural vegetation and thin out brush so that there is less fuel in the event of a fire that is not controlled, McGeever said.
