Red Flag Warning Now in Effect for North and East Bay Hills Through Weekend
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- In front of Oakland's Fire Station 6, the wildfire warning level flipped to extreme Friday evening ahead of the first Red Flag warning of the year.
"Rarely in the first or second week of May are we being told by the National Weather Service that we have a Red Flag Warning for the East Bay hills," said Michael Hunt of the Oakland fire department.
The weather service issued Red Flag Warnings for the North and East Bay hills and the East Bay valleys from Friday night through Monday morning due to weather conditions that pose a risk of wildfires.
As a precaution, fire stations around Oakland have extra staffing and CalOES is staging wildland fire engines around the Oakland Hills.
Joaquin Miller and other East Bay Regional Parks will be closed for Mother's Day Weekend, to reduce the possibility of fire ignition.
While many of the slopes are still green, the danger is still high as heat and winds are expected.
"It's concerning that we haven't had enough rain to go through a whole summer season," said Tiffany Dominguez of Oakland.
Oakland Fire typically doesn't start defensible space property inspections until Memorial Day but it is asking everyone to clear brush and debris away from their home now to be safe.
With this red flag warning, officials are worried about fire weather fatigue causing people to let their guard down as the season drags on.
"Our concern is exhaustion on the part of Oakland residents that they're gonna hear a lot of red flag warnings and a lot of notifications about taking extra precautions. We don't want anyone to take it lightly," Hunt said.
The warnings are in effect from 11 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday.
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