The Southern California fire chief warned Friday that in the dry winter seasons are almost guaranteed.
The warnings delivered at the headquarters of the LA County Fire Department in East Los Angeles are a strict reminder of how the recent endless fire season feels.
“We can never be vigilant,” said LA County Fire Chief Anthony Malone, who led the area through a January wildfire that destroyed thousands of homes, killed 30 people and spent billions on money.
He called another season of destructive fires “inevitable.”
Lonnie Villanueva, interim chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said his firefighters are once again on alert for the brush fire after months of light rain left a mountain of dry vegetation that burns out.
He encouraged residents to make the house as fire-resistant as possible, remove weed trimmers, clean the roof of the leaves, and dig for dead vegetation under the deck.
“We cannot have a fire truck in every driveway,” he warned.
As they said, the head of the Southern California fire service was sandwiched between green, yellow, white and red engines as reminders of the mutual aid agreement.
“When a 911 call comes in and the fire is on fire, there’s smoke in the air and these firefighters are operating as one, I can assure you,” said Brian Marshall, fire chief of California Emergency Services.
As the winds in Santa Ana quickly returned, the chiefs said they emphasized that residents should be ready to prepare evacuation bags.
“We know it’s going to burn,” said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner. “Because Southern California is on fire.”
Source link