High temperatures have San Diego fire crews on alert this week. The extra staff will be on hand to battle potential brush fires before they get out of control.
San Diego Fire-Rescue on Sunday increased the number of firefighters on duty, ahead of the heatwave. Normally, even stations with brush trucks would have only one crew on hand.
“What we do at this time of year is we staff five stations with a brush engine and a structure engine and both rigs are simultaneously staffed, ready to go,” said Steve Ricci, deputy fire chief.
The department wants to speed response times to catch brush fires early. Aside from having two crews available, firefighters can pre load their truck with their gear, saving extra minutes. Fire Rescue is working with meteorologists at San Diego Gas & Electric to determine when to add extra crews. So far, they predict the high heat will increase the possibility of brush fires through Thursday or Friday.
