Damage from last month's Auburn Fire
This week’s heat wave on the heels of another long, dry California summer has fire officials on high alert up and down the state.
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CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant says September and October are the peak months of the fire season. And right now, he says, conditions are ripe for a big blaze.
Berlant: “Across most of Northern California and even down through the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Southern California, we have a red flag warning in place due to the fact that we have high temperatures, low humidity and strong gusty winds.”
And even though the fire risk is expected to drop a bit by Tuesday evening, Berlant says the danger won’t really go away until it rains.
He also says the state has already seen fires spark in urban areas like Auburn and Rio Linda – not just rural ones.
Berlant: “It doesn’t take much vegetation that a fire needs to develop into a wildfire and spread into structures. So no matter where you live, whether you live in the city or the rural areas, you have to be extra fire safe – especially on days like today.”
CalFire increased its staffing over the weekend and has extra fire engines, crews and bulldozers standing by in some of the highest-risk areas.