GILROY
– Fire season in the South Valley hasn’t officially started yet,
but the area’s record-breaking high temperatures is putting
firefighters on alert.
GILROY – Fire season in the South Valley hasn’t officially started yet, but the area’s record-breaking high temperatures is putting firefighters on alert.
On Monday evening a small vegetation fire broke out in a creek bed near Sixth Street and Stoney Court in Gilroy. And on Wednesday, a grass fire sprouted up at Tenth Street and U.S. 101 after a piece of metal flew off the wheel of a pickup truck and ignited the vegetation on the side of the road.
Crews put out the fires quickly, but the flames were a reminder that more such blazes are imminent over the next several months.
“(The heat) is drying the grasses out pretty quickly,” Gilroy Fire Captain Ed Bozzo said. “People ought to start preparing themselves (by) clearing the brush around their houses.”
While temperatures this week hit the mid 80s and 90s, Gilroy fire crews had already prepared for an increase in fire calls. A variety of hoses and lighter protective gear are now on Gilroy fire trucks.
The equipment makes it easier for firefighters, especially as they battle wildland blazes.
Chris Morgan, fire prevention specialist for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said he anticipates the state to declare fire season sometime in May. Already for Southern California, officials set the start of fire season for May 3.
“We’re getting dry here, but we’re in reasonably good shape,” Morgan said. “The upper part of the state is still pretty green.”
Morgan said starting next week seasonal firefighters will be signed up to join ranks with the 107 CDF workers currently on staff.
“At the peak of fire season we could have 60 to 70 seasonal firefighters on staff,” Morgan said.
Fire activity and weather conditions determine when fire season begins. Fire season typically lasts from May to October in Northern California.
Southern California’s fire season sometimes can last for 11 months, Morgan said.
Besides recruiting more firefighters, the CDF will also be stepping up its fire prevention efforts starting in May. Morgan said residents should take advantage of the fire prevention resources now available.
Fire safety tips can be found on the CDF’s Web site, www.fire.ca.gov.
Use the “Homeowners Responsibility” link to access the tips.
South County residents can call Morgan at 778-8623 regarding fire prevention issues.
Also, Morgan said residents are welcome to stop by the CDF fire station at 15760 Monterey Road to see a sample fire safe garden.
The CDF has planted a garden that is used as an example of how to create defensible space around a building.
The garden is comprised of several types of fire resistant plants.
Staff writer Peter Crowley contributed to this report.
Fire Safety
Public Resources Code 4291: “Any person that owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains any building or structure in, upon, or adjoining any mountainous area or forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands, or grass-covered lands, or any land which is covered with flammable material, shall at all times do all of the following:”
• Remove all flammable vegetation or other combustible growth for a distance of not less than 30 feet on each side of the property line.
• Maintain all brush, flammable vegetation, or combustible growth which is located from 30 feet to 100 feet from a building or structure. Grass and other vegetation located more than 30 feet from such building or structure and less than 18 inches in height above the ground may be maintained where necessary to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.
• Remove that portion of any tree which extends within 10 feet of the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe.
• Maintain any tree adjacent to or overhanging any building free of dead or dying wood.
• Maintain the roof of any structure free of leaves, needles, or other dead vegetative growth.
• Provide and maintain at all times a screen over the outlet of every chimney or stovepipe that is attached to any fireplace, stove, or other device that burns any solid or liquid fuel.
