By Mary O’KEEFE

Leaders from several fire agencies gathered last week to discuss wildland fires and what agency officials are doing to combat these fires and how the public’s help is needed to prepare for this danger as summer temperatures rise.

In addition to his role as chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Daryl Osby is also the coordinator for the State of California, Mutual Aid – Region 1.

The meeting on Thursday was for departments that are part of the mutual aid system to discuss the fire season. Years ago California fire season peaked between July and October; however, an extended drought, warm temperatures and a shorter wet season, attributed to climate change, are leaving the land primed for destructive fires earlier in the year creating a fire season that is now year round.

“This is my 11th year as fire chief and nine out of the 11 years I feel like a [broken] record …This year is going to be hotter and it is going to be drier,” Osby said.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Oxnard, the rainfall total recorded in Burbank since Oct. 1, 2021 was 9.92 inches; normal is 13.76 leaving a deficit of 3.84 inches.

The water year that ended Sept. 30, 2021 was the second driest on record, due to extreme heat and lack of rain and snow. All 58 counties in California are now under a drought emergency proclamation, according to the state of California Drought Action.

“We are expecting a hotter, drier summer leading into the fall [when] we have our wind-driven fires in Southern California,” he added.

Osby pointed out that fire departments as a whole have been busier responding to 9-1-1 calls in addition to fighting wildland fires. It is mutual aid that keeps the fire departments confident they are prepared for this fire season.

“No one stands alone in California,” said Brian Marshall, fire and rescue chief of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Marshall manages the emergency mutual aid system.

“The major wildland fires are so large and so destructive that no fire department can handle them on their own so the call for mutual aid goes out literally on a daily basis,” he added.

Mutual aid is one of the most important and successful parts of fire fighting in the state but another important key is the residents.

“Over 90% of wildfires are human caused,” Osby said.

Abatement or brush clearance programs is a way residents can be proactive in reducing fire risks.

“Brush clearance is a very important topic,” said Fire Captain II Erik Scott, Los Angeles Fire Dept. “Wildfires continue to threaten homes; that is why defensible space is very important.”

All native brush, weeds, grass, trees and hazardous vegetation needs to be maintained within 200 feet of structures and/or 10 feet of roadside surfaces or a combustible fence. Grass and native brush should be cut to no more than three inches high. Tree limbs should not be within six feet of the ground with all dead material removed. Tree limbs near chimneys should be no closer than 10 feet from the structure. (For more information visit websites for any of the fire departments listed at the end of the article.)

Residents should also clear rain gutters of any and all dry vegetation because embers can travel miles from the origin of a fire.

Residents should be ready for fire and any emergency including earthquakes.

“We know the drought is here. We know the fuels are flammable and know now, with watering restrictions, the fuels around our homes are becoming [more] flammable,” said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner. “Take responsibility for the safety of yourself and your family … [Emergencies] are going to happen when you are not expecting them.”       

He added fires can spread fast so residents need to be aware of fires in nearby cities and pay attention to the “next ridge line over.”

Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia added those living and visiting the forest need to be aware of fire restrictions.

“[At] the Angeles National Forest we are already in fire restrictions so that is an indication of the conditions that are set for us going into the summer fire season,” Garcia said.

He, too, warned that fires can move quickly from one jurisdiction to another.

Fires move much quicker than in the past due to years of dry conditions … and it is not going to get any better anytime soon.

“It’s climate change,” said Orange County Fire Authority Fire Chief Brian Fennessy.

He was not talking as a scientist but as a longtime firefighter.

“I have been doing this [job] for 40 plus years and have never seen fire spread the way it does,” he said. “I have never seen what we are experiencing today.”

Osby added that firefighters would describe fire moving toward them as sounding like a locomotive, but now they describe it as several locomotives – the intensity has increased.

Fire departments in Region 1 are examining several ways that residents can be proactive including reevaluating landscaping that is planted at homes near wildfire areas, as well as looking toward science for answers regarding the future of firefighting and fire prevention.

For more information, residents can visit any local fire stations. For online information visit the following:

LA City Fire Department ­– lafd.org, LA County Fire – fire.lacounty.gov, – Ventura County Fire – vcfd.org, Santa Barbara County Fire – sbcfire.com, San Luis Obispo County Fire – calfireslo.org, Angeles National Forest Service –www.fs.usda.gov/angeles, California Office of Emergency Service – www.caloes.ca.gov.