Dry Conditions Mean Early Start To Fire Season
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Grass fires in February and rain totals well below normal mean Northern California is on tap for the earliest fire season in recent memory.
When we start talking "fire season" it's usually early summer, sometimes late spring. But this year it's off to a surprising start in the middle of winter. Last month, an area of rural Napa County burned 200 acres.
And that's just one of more than 400 vegetation fires Cal Fire's fought so far this year.
During the same time period last year it was fewer than 150.
"It all has to do with the lack of precipitation that we've seen in November, December and January, all lining us up to what potentially could be a very busy fire season for us," Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
With rain totals 60 percent below normal for this time of year, it's unlikely that Northern California will escape huge flames and heavy smoke in high vegetation areas in the months to come.
"Unless we see a monsoon this month, it's not going to be enough rain to really recover the grass and the brush because again the last three months it's received nothing," Berlant said.
But last year, it was the opposite. Lots of rain, and we heard the same wildfire warnings from Cal Fire. That's because more rain only creates even more brush that eventually dries out. Last year's brush will be even drier this summer.
"The conditions are so dry that even though there's not as much brush or as much grass as in previous years, it's all flammable and it's going to be able to burn," Berlant said.
