Northern California has seen its fair share of rain within the past few months.
Down here in San Diego- it’s the opposite.
High winds, low humidity, and a returning drought status means CAL FIRE staff are on high alert, and now getting help from crews up north.
“CAL FIRE is California's Fire Department,” said Battalion Chief, Brent Pascua.
When duty calls, these crews answer.
Even if the call is on the opposite side of the state.
“From border to border, we have to make sure that our citizens are protected,” said Pascua.
That’s the case for CAL FIRE staff from Northern California, as fire danger down south is causing concern.
“We're bringing resources from the north, Northern California, and we're gonna be extra staffing all the way from San Luis all the way down to San Diego,” said Pascua.
45 engines and more than 100 personnel making their way down the state, along with water tenders, bulldozers, and even aircrafts.
“What's kind of the level of severity that needs to be reached for CAL FIRE to allocate crews down to Southern California?” I asked.
“We take these Santa Ana events really seriously. A lot of our major fires here in San Diego, Riverside, have happened during the winter time, during Santa Ana events. So it doesn't take much,” said Pascua.
Despite lending a hand to Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties- Northern California’s resources aren’t at a loss.
“This happens quite often, especially during this time of year. It's slow up north. I've spent many Thanksgivings, some Christmases with some of the same crews from up north. Just because of the Santa Ana wind events,” said Pascua.
CAL FIRE officials say 95% of wildfires are caused by humans, and advise vigilance during this critical weather period.
