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But Summer’s Fire Season Awaits Especially in Southern California
The good news, thanks to a reprieve from California’s five-year drought in some parts of the state, is that wildfires are down within the state by more than 65 percent. In the first four months of the year 609 wildfires have been reported versus 917 for the same period last year and most of the fires have been minor.
But despite the good news thus far this year, experts are cautiously eyeing the odds as to what to expect for the coming summer and beyond. Whereas, according to Cal Fire spokesman Dan Berlant, “The rain has been great,” other personnel with Cal Fire are looking ahead to the summer heat with caution.
Though only about 600 acres of state land has burned so far this year – in contrast to the 9,200 acres in the same time last year – Cal Fire’s Chief Ken Pimlott says that though there’s been a significant reduction (in fires) thus far, “…that’s going to change. We’re getting into the warmer months,” Pimlott said.
Pimlott’s comments were echoed by Amy Head, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “This year was good, it was steady little storms not stacked up. But it really did grow a pretty thick and tall grass crop, more than we’ve seen in the last few years. We’ll basically have more lighter, flashy fuels along roadsides once they dry out.”
In the San Bernardino National Forest, grass is sprouting up on south-facing hillsides and lining highways in the Inland Empire and El Cajon Pass, said Dan O’Connor, a forest, fuels and prevention officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
“That puts us on edge,” O’Connor said. “The grass will cure the earliest and it takes the least amount of effort to get going.”
Similarly, Scott Stephens, a fire researcher with the University of California, Berkeley, acknowledged the pending fire risk especially in Southern California when he recently said, “This year, being dry is just going to make that potential for fire spread even higher.
AccuWeather Expert Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok commented, “We have a long-term drought going on and we didn’t get much rain in southern California, so Los Angeles, Burbank, Riverside – they’re still in drought conditions. They’re going to feel the heat there.”
However, firefighters who last year were battling early-season wildfires in mid-February, have been able to allocate their resources and assets to preventive measures. Clearing brush and dead trees can help decrease both the likelihood, frequency and intensity of fires.
“We’re trying to make sure that the public understands you’ve got to cut down that grass and you’ve got to remove those trees to create breaks around your homes,” he said
Nonetheless, Stephens of UC Berkeley, acknowledged the wet days thus far into May. “These delayed rains are really going to help us.”
AcuuWeather.com’s Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck, summed up the situation saying that though May could be slightly wetter than normal in most of California, June and July may be a bit below normal. Summer temperatures may not be excessively hot but the summer could see heat in rolling episodes—several exceptionally hot days in a row.
