A Bay Area red flag fire warning scheduled to start today and
run through the weekend has been downgraded, state fire officials
said, but for one team of local firefighters, raging wildfires are
a reality.
A Bay Area red flag fire warning scheduled to start today and run through the weekend has been downgraded, state fire officials said, but for one team of local firefighters, raging wildfires are a reality.
The meteorology team at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has cancelled a high-level warning it put out Tuesday. The warning alerts fire crews that the danger of fire is particularly high and that fires are likely to spread rapidly. Yet fire officials still stress that, though the warning has been cancelled, high winds, low humidity and ample kindling mean the risk of fire is still high.
“If a fire was to start, it could get out of hand pretty quickly,” department Battalion Chief Ken McGeever said.
Meteorologists predict that Santa Clara County will see winds of 10 to 15 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph, bringing dry air from the northeast and, later in the weekend, from the east. Friday and Saturday will have the highest potential for ignition, they said. Earlier predictions had faster winds, which triggered the red flag warning.
Because of the fire-friendly conditions, the department reopened fire season Tuesday in Northern California and re-suspended burn days. Accordingly, state and Gilroy firefighters are treating fires as they would in peak fire season – sending out an extra brush rig for every fire report.
Fire officials urged residents to consider this weekend as peak fire danger. They should operate engines that could generate sparks early in the morning, refrain from burning anything outside and be careful with cigarettes, McGeever said.
Gilroy has sent five firefighters and an engine down to Southern California to help battle more than 12 fires that have displaced nearly 1 million people, destroyed 1,500 residences and created property losses of about $1 billion.
Tuesday, the Gilroy-led strike force – comprised of 30 personnel and seven engines from around the county – started battling the Buckweed Fire in Los Angeles County.
However, if that fire is contained, the Gilroy-led force could be transferred to another blaze, Gilroy Battalion Chief Phil King said.
“It becomes a big checkerboard,” he said. “They’ll reassign them to one of those other fires. It’s possible they might shift them down to San Diego depending on what flares up.”
In total, Northern California sent more than 2,000 firefighters, 175 vehicles, and four helicopters to help with Southern California fires.
The blazes have charred more than 425,000 acres.
Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 others have been injured. One person was killed by the flames, and the San Diego medical examiner’s officer listed five other deaths as connected to the blazes.
Gilroy will continue to send help as long as it can afford it, King said.
“Obviously we have to maintain our service level here,” he said. Yet, “We’ll send them everything we can.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
