Public Safety

Extreme Fire Danger This Week In San Diego

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published September 21, 2009 at 11:19 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

A sign displays current fire danger as extreme in Southern California.

Extreme Fire Danger This Week In San Diego

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for much of Southern California because of unseasonably hot and dry weather. The critical fire weather conditions are also a concern for the operator of the state's electricity grid.

National Weather Service forecasters say a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures will create extreme fire conditions through Friday.

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The service says temperatures are expected to be 10-to-20 degrees above average with record highs in some areas.

The operator of California's electrical grid says power use has been higher than normal for late September because of the warm weather.

Greg Fishman with the California Independent System Operator is concerned about the combination of high fire danger and increased demand on the grid.

"The fires don't even actually have to do damage to transmission lines, just the smoke, the heat, the particulate matter in the air can cause those lines to arc and to trip out of service," says Fishman.

Fishman says in terms of power demand they're not expecting any problems meeting electricity needs.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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