Oct. 03--If a fire sparks in the mountains this weekend it's going to very hard to stop it, weather officials said as hot and dry winds are expected to move into areas of Southern California.
Fire officials say despite the federal government shutdown, resources will be available in the event of a fire during the expected Santa Ana conditions.
"Our firefighters -- hotshot crews, smokejumpers and others -- are excepted employees under the government shutdown. Given the potential for fire activity in Southern California now and in the near future, we do have resources in the area and stationed in other parts of the country ready to respond if needed," said Leo Kay, U.S. Forest Service spokesman via email on Wednesday.
"If we don't have adequate resources on board to handle new incidents, we have mechanisms to call employees back. We are doing everything we can to be ready but also to comply with the shutdown situation."
Santa Ana conditions will develop over night into the early hours Friday and continue Saturday with the strongest winds averaging 20 to 40 mph, said Ken Clark, meteorologist for Accuweather.
On Saturday, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, including the beach areas, will be in the low 90s and slightly cooler on Sunday as the Santa Ana dies.
"The combination of the wind and the low humidity and low temps is going to create a high fire danger across the state because the air is so dry," Clark said. "In windy areas, if a fire gets started, it's going to be very hard to stop it."
As red-flag warnings come in and as fires occur, Los Angeles County Fire Department will staff according to their policy and protocol with no suppression as a result of the government shutdown, said Tony Akins, the department's inspector.
"The reality is, if it snows in Washington, D.C., the government shuts down but the essential services of public safety always continue," Akins said.
"We are not heavily dependent on the federal government for budgetary, certainly the air tankers are nationally contracted, but again, critical services are open as far as I understand so there will be no real impact or prevention capabilities."
Fire officials in San Bernardino County said the U.S. Forest Service in their mountains are staffed with agreements in place to respond with mutual aide.
"From a (San Bernardino) County fire standpoint, (services) will all function the same and we're being told the U.S. Forest (Service) has even upped staff at some of their stations in the anticipated wind event," said Tracy Martinez, spokeswoman for San Bernardino County Fire.
In the case of the Santa Monica mountains, the Santa Monica Conservancy operate their own fire agency, according to Akins.
"Through the lens of a fire fighter, the mountains of Southern California are the mountains. So while there may be different agencies that are responsible for a particular jurisdiction they are all the same brush, exposure and hill side, we don't look at mountain ranges in particular," he said.
Copyright 2013 - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif.
