Cal Fire prepares for increased wildfire risk as summer nears

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]COUNTY.ORG/EMERGENCY ALERTS BEFORE THE SYSTEM IS TESTED ON MAY 28TH.

[00:00:06]CAL FIRE IS PREPARING FOR A POTENTIALLY ACTIVE WILDFIRE SEASON.

[00:00:10]CALIFORNIA GOT PLENTY OF RAIN IN THE WINTER, BUT THE WARM WEATHER AND AN UNDERWHELMING SNOWPACK HAS LED TO DRIER VEGETATION.

[00:00:18]AS WE GET CLOSER TO SUMMER.

[00:00:20]AND JOINING US LIVE TO TALK ABOUT THE OUTLOOK HEADING INTO THE PEAK OF FIRE SEASON, CAL FIRE BATTALION CHIEF DAVID ACUNA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOR JOINING US.

[00:00:29]HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CURRENT FIRE CONDITIONS AS WE’RE SEEING THINGS DRY OUT?

[00:00:34]THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.

[00:00:36]SO LOOKING AT THE STATE AS A WHOLE, IT VARIES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.

[00:00:40]BUT RIGHT NOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAVE A RED FLAG WARNING FROM KERN ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH THE WESTERN EDGE OF FRESNO AND TULARE COUNTY.

[00:00:48]FRESNO, MADERA COUNTY.

[00:00:49]SO THERE’S A WHOLE LOT GOING ON.

[00:00:52]AND WITH THE FUELS, ESPECIALLY, AS YOU MENTIONED, QUITE A BIT OF RAIN HAS LED TO A BUMPER GRASS CROP.

[00:00:58]ADDED TO THAT ARE THE NUMBER OF CROPS WE’VE HAD THAT HAVE GROWN OVER THE LAST, SAY, TEN YEARS, AND IT’S ADDED TO LAYERS OF THESE DEAD GRASSES THAT ARE JUST WAITING FOR A SPARK.

[00:01:09]SO YOU MENTIONED THE AREAS THAT ARE GOING TO BE UNDER A RED FLAG WARNING.

[00:01:13]ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC AREAS THAT ARE MORE VULNERABLE RIGHT NOW HERE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA?

[00:01:19]SO REALLY, WHEN WE’RE LOOKING AT THIS, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT HOW RECENTLY IT RAINED BECAUSE AS SOON AS THE GRASS IS DRY OUT, THEY BECOME FLAMMABLE.

[00:01:29]MORE IMPORTANTLY IS THAT EVEN IF THERE IS GRASS THAT’S GREEN ON TOP, IF THERE ARE LAYERS OF DEAD GRASSES UNDERNEATH FROM PREVIOUS FIRE YEARS, THEN THAT IS GOING TO BE A SIGNIFICANT RISK.

[00:01:40]AND YEAH, AND SPEAKING OF THINGS DRYING OUT, YOU KNOW, WE’RE LOSING MOISTURE DAY BY DAY AS WE GET FARTHER AND FARTHER FROM THE LAST RAIN WE HAD.

[00:01:48]AND NOW WE’VE GOT NORTH WINDS COMING UP THIS WEEKEND.

[00:01:50]HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT THAT?

[00:01:53]WELL, WE MAINTAIN OUR CONCERN AT ALL TIMES, PARTICULARLY WHEN THERE’S GOING TO BE A WIND EVENT, BECAUSE WE DO KNOW THAT WITH FIRES MOVING BASED ON FUEL, WEATHER AND TOPOGRAPHY, THAT THE WEATHER MEANING WINDS, IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN HOW FAST IT MOVES, WHICH IS WHY WE RESPOND GROUNDED IN AIR RESOURCES RIGHT AWAY TO KEEP IT TO TEN ACRES OR LESS 95% OF THE TIME.

[00:02:15]NOW, WHEN WE COMPARE FIRE SEASONS, OF COURSE, COMPARED WITH THIS TIME LAST YEAR, OUR CONDITIONS BETTER OR WORSE, ARE THEY ABOUT THE SAME?

[00:02:24]WOULD YOU SAY SO?

[00:02:25]YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK AT THE WAY THE THE FIRE YEAR COMES UP.

[00:02:30]IT REALLY JUST DEPENDS ON THE RECENCY OF WHEN IT RAINED, HOW MUCH FUEL IS ON THE GROUND.

[00:02:35]AND SO IN THIS CASE, RIGHT NOW WE’RE JUST WAITING TO SEE WHERE IT POPS UP.

[00:02:40]AND PARTICULARLY WHEN WE SEE WIND NEXT TO MOUNTAINS OR IN THE VALLEYS, THAT’S WHERE WE REALLY HAVE CONCERNS.

[00:02:46]ALL RIGHT.

[00:02:47]CAL FIRE BATTALION CHIEF DAVID ACUNA, THANK YOU S