[californiadisasters] Wildfire Preparedness In San Diego After The Driest Year On Record

Wildfire Preparedness In San Diego After The Driest Year On Record

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh, Peggy Pico | KPBS-TV

The weather in San Diego has been gorgeous this month; picture-perfect, chamber-of-commerce sunshine and warm temperatures — something to make people in the freezing Midwest and East Coast filled with envy.

But, there's a very troubling side to our warm, sunny winter: drought.

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency for the state.

Weather experts say this has been the driest winter since records started being kept in the 1890s; With the lack of rainfall, comes an increased fire danger.

State fire fighters have been handling a larger than normal rash of winter fires and they are bracing for a very dangerous fire season ahead. Cal Fire officials say they've responded to more than 150 wildfires in the first 20 days of this year.

The drought declaration for California means Cal Fire will hire more fire fighters and increase resources to prevent and respond to wildfires.

Interactive Feature

Acres Burned In San Diego County

SD Largest Wildfires, 2013 | Infographics

Above: The above graphic shows the largest wildfires that burned in San Diego County in 2013 (from largest to smallest): Chariot Fire, 7,055 acres; San Felipe Fire, 2,781 acres; De Luz Fire 2,236 acres; General Fire, 1,271 acres; Lyon Fire, 236 acres.

Source: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jan/21/wildfire-preparedness-san-diego-after-driest-year-/

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