Nasty Fire Season Expected in San Diego County

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

By Ed Joyce and KPBS Public Broadcasting

Audio

Aired 4/19/09

Summer is two months away, but fire officials in San Diego are worried. Four brush fires last weekend may be a sign of things to come. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

A couple of scorching weekends with record heat this month, combined with continued dry conditions has set the stage for a nasty fire season.

Maurice Luque is with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Luque: We have some really serious concerns and I think these concerns are shared both at the local level, the regional level and the state level, that this could be a worse fire season than we had last year. And we thought last year was bad.
Because of the conditions, Luque says fire agencies are attacking even small fires with extra resources.

He says early winter rains have spurred grass growth throughout the county.

Luque says last Sunday's fire on the western end of Penasquitos Canyon is one example of how those grasses can turn a small brush fire of a few acres into a hundred acre blaze in a short time.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

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