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What can we expect this fire season?

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

After mild temperatures and more rain than usual the first half of the year, it’s warming up. That means fire season.

Fallbrook’s Fire Chief, Stephen Abbott of the North County Fire Protection District, is joining others in warning it could be a dangerous season.

“You never know what’s going to happen, but the information we’re getting doesn’t look good,” he said during an interview last week.

Abbott based his fears on a report from the Southern California Geographic Coordination Center, an agency that keeps fire departments up to date on conditions and tries to predict what will happen.

The chief said the basic findings were:

• Temperatures slightly above normal, mainly across inland areas.

• Near to slightly below normal number of summer thunderstorms outside the deserts.

• Large fire potential trending above normal this summer in the foothills and inland valleys due to tree mortality.

• Greatest large fire potential may be in the Sierra Foothills and inland areas of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties the next four months.

Abbott described “tree mortality” as the damage to trees in prior years due to drought conditions.

The fact that it rained longer into the year could mean dry conditions come later in the year, he said.

“The fire threat is elevated because with the additional rain, the grass has grown higher,” he explained. “Once it dries out, it’s a greater threat to fire. Once burning, the grass ignites the brush and the brush the trees.”

Once at that stage, it’s easy to get out of control because the high winds can blow embers toward additional dry grass and spread the fire. That’s called spotting, Abbott said; a fireman’s nightmare.

Locals remember the 2017 Lilac fire that burned 4,100 acres in Fallbrook and Bonsall, claiming 157 structures – including 75 homes in the Rancho Monserate Country Club trailer park on Dec. 7.

“I hope we’ll never have a fire like that again,” Abbott said. “We’re paying attention to all the reports so we can have all our resources available.”

The chief, who has been with the department for 29 years, starting as a fireman/paramedic, said the Lilac fire in fact could have been worse.

“It was the first big fire of the season,” he explained. “We had a lot of regional resources available, pre-positioned. There were 100 engines on the fire in the first hour, but the winds were just too fierce.”

If the fire had been weeks later, resources would have been much more thin, he said.

What can residents do to protect their property?

“Weed abatement is important,” Abbott said. “We also offer inspections if people have any questions about the safety of their home.”

The fire district gives weed abatement inspections and notices are sent out. If the property owner doesn’t take care of the problem, the department won’t bother with fines. Instead, a contractor is brought in to eliminate the condition – and the property owner is billed.

“It’s a lot less costly if the resident coordinates the work,” he mentioned.

Abbott said the web site readysandiego.org also has great safety information — including earthquake preparedness tips.

 

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