With rain returning this week, North State residents might be enjoying a brief respite from thinking about wildfires. But CalFire is warning North State residents to be prepared.
This year’s wet winter storms could prompt the question: when does wildfire season start this year? Unfortunately, the answer is… it’s always wildfire season.
“We no longer have wildfire seasons, we have wildfire years,” said Acting State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant.
Berlant says Cal Fire responds to wildfires all 12 months of the year. This year has been no exception, despite the precipitation this winter.
“It's really typically the summer and fall months when we experience our largest or most damaging wildfires,” Berlant said. “But fire season really is a term of the past, and fire year really is becoming our new reality.”
Berlant says that CalFire crews are already responding to small wildfires in areas that had record snow this winter.
He says conditions in the North State are getting drier. He’s noticed tall grasses on the valley floor drying out and becoming flammable.
“Let me just stress that, again, regardless of how much rain we get, unfortunately, California’s dry Mediterranean climate lends itself every year to wildfire conditions,” Berlant said.
Berlant says a wildfire year mindset should motivate more North State residents to begin wildfire preparations now.
He added CalFire will be working with communities in the region on wildfire preparations. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being made available for local mitigation projects.
Berlant underscored two things: homeowners should retrofit their dwellings to protect them from wildfires, and maintain 100 feet of defensible space.
“A lot of research that has [been] recently done shows that these steps will help increase a home's chance of surviving in a wildfire,” Berlant said. “And that's why it's so important to get done now before the fire breaks out.”
Additionally, a new law went into effect this year that requires homeowners to keep the first five feet of a home totally clear of flammable vegetation.
CalFire says its defensible space inspectors will work to educate North State homeowners about the new rules and how to implement the requirement.
