SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Organizations announced beefed-up fire crews across Southern California Thursday morning, anticipating the Red Flag Warning issued by the National Weather Service.
Years prior illustrate how devastating a spark during a serious wind event can be.
"There's places all over the county that haven't burned in quite a while," Cal Fire Captain Issac Sanchez said.
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Meteorologist Megan Parry said this is the second driest year on record. That means there's much more dry brush. The National Weather Service said fuel moisture is near record low levels.
A bad recipe for fire danger with, "the east winds coming out of the desert area... The low humidity that's coming along with it, and the warmer than average temperatures," Sanchez said.
Sanchez asked everyone to do their part, "to get your defensible clearance in and be careful when you're out and about in order to avoid accidentally starting a fire," so they can protect your home.
He advised against using powered tools like chainsaws and lawnmowers, saying if they hit a rock, they could spark. Instead, he suggests using hand tools to clear away dry, dead brush.
If you're driving or towing anything, make sure nothing is dragging from your car, or rig, that could cause sparks to fly.
Also, he said there are lots of tools out there to help you get prepared. Visit Ready For Wildfire orReady San Diego for more information.
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You can also register for Evacuation Alerts at Alert San Diego.
We have this update from San Diego City Fire:
This morning at 8 a.m. we increased our staffing because of the red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service.
SDFD has brush rigs at several stations around our city but they are additional apparatus in stations that are not always staffed. For this 24 hour period, SDFD added firefighters on overtime to staff five brush rigs and two water tenders. Each brush rig carries a crew of four firefighters and the water tenders are staffed by one firefighter each. SDFD staffs a firefighting/rescue helicopter around the clock every day but during this increased staffing we have added additional crews bringing SDFD to two firefighting/rescue capable helicopters during this 24 hour period. A helicopter crew consists of three firefighters.
-SD Fire Rescue Media Services Manager Mónica Muñoz
SDG&E said they have no planned outages, and are monitoring the winds. The Emergency Operations Center is running and they are calling people who could be affected.
They are focusing on those who have medical needs and other serious issues that would be affected by a loss of power, urging them to be ready. They will have updates on their website SDGEnews.com https://SDGEnews.com.
