Thunderstorms Possible In San Diego County Mountains, Deserts

Speaker 1: 00:00 Now that Labor Day is behind us. We had into another season and for California that is fire season. September and October are typically the worst months for wildfires. So how are fire officials preparing? Captain Thomas Shoots with cal fire joins us with how they're getting ready. Captain shoots. Welcome. Speaker 2: 00:18 Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Speaker 1: 00:20 Um, now that we are headed into the peak of our fire season, what are you all expecting Speaker 2: 00:26 at work? Expecting things, uh, to still have, uh, a huge potential. Um, we've been fortunate this season as a, as a lot of people have noticed. We haven't had a ton of fires, um, both in San Diego County and statewide. The numbers are, are drastically lower than last year and so we're very excited about that. However, going into the late summer, early fall, we are still seeing a large fire potential. Um, we have what's called predictive services. They do a lot of weather analysis for us, looking at future trends and all kinds of stuff. And, uh, we do have a significant amount of wind events lined up or, uh, potential wind events lined up for this time of year. And we, that's usually when we see the large acreage fires. And so we can't, can't quite let our guard down yet. We need to stay diligent. Speaker 1: 01:10 And so how do you guys, uh, keep yourself guarded and prepared? Speaker 2: 01:14 So we're, we're staffed up and ready to go. Um, I'll just use today as an example. We have, um, five helicopters available to us in the county. We have four fixed wing aircraft, we have 26 engines, um, just on the cal fire side, um, throughout the county. And that's not even including our cooperators. The forest service, um, is staffed up and ready to go. We have local government options, we have tribal options and so we have a ton of resources available to us. Anytime something happens Speaker 1: 01:42 and you all have the use of a new aerial attack plane, uh, how will that impact efforts to put out fires? Speaker 2: 01:48 So the, the c one 34, um, is a new, uh, air tanker that we have down Ramona. They're currently using it as a training platform. Our official [inaudible] will be rolling out throughout the state, uh, in 2021, but they need to make sure the pilots are trained up and ready to go. So what they've done is they brought the c one 30 down to Ramona so they can train up, um, our, our pilots who are currently flying the stts and, and make sure that they're ready to go. So when the planes are good to go, our pilots are, Speaker 1: 02:15 and you, you mentioned that so far the fire season hasn't been, uh, as bad. Uh, we had a very wet winter. Um, has that provided enough ground moisture to prevent some of these brush fires? Speaker 2: 02:26 It definitely won't prevent it. It's, it's bought us time and that's why we've seen the low numbers so far. We've still had a ton of fires. Um, we have fires every day in San Diego County and luckily it doesn't pop up on the news because we keep them small and, and, uh, things are kind of handled because the weather has been cooperating. That being said, the fuels are still drying out. Um, we still have that potential out there. We just haven't had the weather line up, um, to, to really bring us something significant. So going into the fall, um, we still have a very dry fuels out there. We still have plenty of trees that have died off from bug kill that will not be coming back to life. And so those fuels will always present a problem for us, Speaker 1: 03:05 you know, as construction spreads into areas like the back country, which would potentially be areas that more are more prone to fires. Um, does that present a bigger challenge for you all? Well, any kind of, Speaker 2: 03:18 any kind of a population in general is, is, uh, does complicate things a bit. Um, however, in, in San Diego, uh, with the amount of resources we have, we, we always go with an aggressive fire attack. Um, we don't have the luxury that some other places in the state do where they able to manage fires and, and kind of watch them and let them do their thing. So we're gonna aggressively, um, uh, fight these fires, whether, whether there's population out there or not, because so much of San Diego County is, is surrounding populations and ultimately we know people need a place to live in. And there's a lot of people who want to be in San Diego County for for obvious reasons. Speaker 1: 03:53 Sure. I mean, what can people do to help prevent fires and is there anything people can invest in to protect their homes? Speaker 2: 04:00 Definitely. So, so we have all the resources on our end and we're doing our part to make sure we're protected, but we do need people to step it up and make sure that they're providing the defensible space around their house. Um, that means cleaning out dead vegetation. If you jump on ready for wildfire.org, that's the callfire site, which we'll give you a bunch of tips, but the gist is this, don't have dead vegetation coming up to your house and hard in your home. Make sure that your home is ready to take, um, take on that, uh, that flaming front should the, should the need arise. We really need people to, to make sure their home is ready and make sure their vegetation surrounding their home, uh, gives them the, the best fighting chance, uh, should a fire go through their area. Speaker 1: 04:38 You know, is there any point in time where you are where we all can breathe a sigh of relief? Or are we now permanently in a situation where it's fire season, year round? Speaker 2: 04:49 Really, once we see, um, those significant rains in the winter time, once we see a few inches on the ground and things are really saturated, I think, um, that's a very short window for us to take a deep breath, um, and, uh, and, and, and kind of enjoy ourselves. But, but the reality of, of the state of California right now, um, is that we're always gonna have that potential. We s we saw the lilac fire happen late in the season. We saw the Thomas fire happened way late in the season, and, you know, these are, these are winter months and these fires are taken off. So, um, it's really going to be dependent, but, but I guess, uh, the, the real big answer is, uh, it is not really, um, but we, uh, once we see those, those, uh, heavy wedding rains, we can, we can take a take a short [inaudible]. Speaker 1: 05:36 All right. I've been speaking with Captain Thomas shoots with cal fire captain shoots. Thanks so much for joining us. Speaker 2: 05:42 Awesome. Thanks for having me.