Will Wild Fire Season Come Early to San Diego?

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host

Published May 11, 2009 at 6:20 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Wildfires can strike in the West at any time, as Santa Barbara is currently demonstrating. We'll get a look at how the conditions are shaping up for wildfires in the San Diego region for summer and fall and how the county is preparing to combat them.

Maureen Cavanaugh: The weather this weekend up in Santa Barbara was better than expected, and by that I mean it was cooler, more humid and less windy. That allowed firefighters to get the upper hand on most of the Jesusita fire that ripped through the county last week.

As we watched the pictures of the fire up north racing over hills and burning houses it's impossible not to think about the coming fire season here in San Diego. So now that fire danger is on our minds, we thought it a good time to check on how prepared San Diego is for another wildfire season. What have we learned from the 2007 witchcreek fire, what could state budget cuts do to our fire-fighting capabilities and what do weather forecasters say about fire conditions this summer and fall?

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Guests

Mike Marcotte, media consultant.

August Ghio, San Miguel Fire Chief and president of the San Diego County Fire Chiefs Association.

Stan Wasowski, forecaster for the National Weather Service.