'Anxious' firefighters prepare for sizzling Labor Day weekend, increased fire danger
LOS GATOS -- Get ready for temperatures to soar this Labor Day weekend. It's not only a big concern for firefighters but for meteorologists who study fire weather and our soil moisture content.
At Shannon Fire Station in Los Gatos, fire crews are getting ready for a busy and hot holiday weekend. In our severe drought, they know just one spark can ignite a wildfire.
That's why they will have additional staffing with an extra fire engine up in the very dry hills throughout the Labor Day weekend.
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"I think the best word I can think of is 'anxious,'" said Santa Clara County Fire Department spokesman Justin Stockman. "We've had year after year of just devastating wildfire up and down California, and I think a lot of us have adjusted to that reality."
Craig Clements, Director of Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University, leads research on fire weather, extreme fire behavior, fire-atmosphere interactions, and conducting wildland fire field experiments. He said so far, we've been lucky this wildfire season.
But of course, we're not done yet. While soil moisture content has been average for this time of year, he says extremely hot temperatures this weekend will make our fire danger much worse.
"I think this heat wave will play a big role in increasing our fire danger," said Clements.
Fire officials said it is so important we all do our part to prevent wildfires from even starting. Never throw cigarette butts outside. Make sure your car is properly maintained, so it doesn't produce any sparks on the road.