Roadside Fires Often the First to Start in the Early Days of Fire Season
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – As we head into high fire season, some of the early fire ignite along the roadside.
It’s a common pattern where vehicles are not only creating a drying effect, but they are also linked to some of the causes.
That could include sparks from dragging chains from a vehicle involved in towing. It could also be from hot particles from a bad catalytic converter in the exhaust system.
As a fire specialist told your News Channel recently, some of the early grasses are turning brown and the grass that came up after the March-April showers are next to go through that cycle. Together it is creating a dangerous fire condition.
Mark vonTillow is a Wildland Specialist with the City of Santa Barbara.
He says, “you can look around now it’s pretty green. But if you go to the other side of the mountains it is turning. When the fuel moisture peaks and starts to come down that’s when things dry out and turn brown. That creates conditions where fires can start quickly and spread in winds.”
At times in the past, in addition to vehicle sources, there may be some issues with passing trains that have also been linked to fires but those have become more rare.
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