Temperatures are Rising Along With Fire Hazards on the Central Coast
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Temperatures are climbing, and so are fire hazards, especially in the wilderness areas of the Central Coast.
Fire authorities dealt with multiple brush fires last week, and at least three of them started in the Santa Maria Riverbed.
While some of last week’s Santa Maria Riverbed fires were possibly started by people in encampments, officials at multiple agencies say the brush in the countryside is at it’s maximum height after the annual rains and now it’s drying up, providing extra fuel for wild-land fires.
“Most of your municipal departments and obviously some of the county departments that we’re in kind of our hazardous fuel reduction program window right now. We’re doing the weed abatement, hazardous fuel reduction inspections, make sure that the property owners are in compliance with creating the defensible space,” says Scott Hallett with Five Cities Fire Authority.
Both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties contain large portions of wild lands with residences and other properties interspersed throughout.
“We kind of pull the northern resources from San Luis Obispo County, southern resources from Santa Barbara County to get these contained and anytime we start having resources directed to one specific area, it has a potential to cause a threat to other areas if new fires were to start,” says Hallett.
Officials encourage residents of these areas to follow the guidelines for defensible spaces, making sure to clear any debris, and also make sure you’re signed up for your county’s emergency alert systems.
“Any time we are dealing with a vegetation fire here in the county or most of California, it’s dependent on a lot of things. What the weather’s like, the topography. California’s a lot of steep terrain, so fire can move uphill. Much faster and then a lot of it’s wind driven,” says Scott Safechuck with Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
“These more sustained longer periods of dry, hot weather just kind of exacerbate the fire season starting. And then once again, the ability for, you know, kind of fires to sustain themselves,” says Hallett.
The next 2 to 3 weeks serves as the transition into high fire season, and June 1st is the deadline in both counties to have defensible spaces clear.
And finally, officials say to remember that when your county’s public alert system gives an evacuation warning, it’s best to pack belongings and make plans for leaving.
An evacuation order is issued when your life is in jeopardy and it’s time to go.