Southern California Fire Chief warned Friday that there is a season of devastating wildfires under barbecue conditions in the winter.
The warning was issued at the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s East Los Angeles headquarters, a clear reminder of how endless fire seasons feel these days.
“We can never let our guards down,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
He called another season of destructive fire “inevitable.”
Ronnie Villanueva, interim director of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said his firefighters left a pile of dry vegetation in months of rainfall, ready to use as a ignition, and once again were highly alert to the brush fire.
He encouraged residents to resist fire as much as possible, take out weed pruners, clean the roof of leaves, and then dig out dead vegetation under the deck.
“We can’t have fire trucks in every lane at all,” he warned.
As they spoke, the chiefs from the Southern California firefighting agency were green, yellow, white and red on both sides of the engines to remind them of mutual aid agreements.
“I can assure you that when the 911 phone comes in and the fire burns, there is smoke in the air and these firemen will operate as one person,” said Brian Marshall, director of the California Emergency Services Fire Department.
The Chief said Santa Ana Wind would return soon, stressing that residents should be ready for evacuation bags.
“We knew it was going to burn,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said. “Because Southern California burns.”
