May 10--Al Gray got an unexpected knock on his door this week.
Two state fire inspectors wanted to talk to him about the height of the grass and the size of the trees on his property just outside Napa. While such fire-safety visits are not uncommon in rural areas, the number taking place this year -- and how early in the spring they're occurring -- is unprecedented.
As part of a statewide ramping up of fire suppression, hundreds of inspectors are fanning out to make sure homeowners like Gray are preparing for a potentially historic season of flames.
"I usually keep things pretty clear," Gray told the inspectors as they walked across his land. "I mow the grass by hand, and I just took a few trees down."
The inspectors with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection agreed that Gray, whose grassy acreage off Highway 121 is dotted with oak and pine trees, had been vigilant and gave him mostly good marks for fire safety.
However, they dinged him for keeping a pile of firewood too close to his home. He was ordered to remove it within 30 days.
The statewide drought has left California's hills and valleys dangerously dry. Fire officials say a single spark from a car or lawnmower in places such as the Wine Country or the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Oakland hills could explode into a runaway wildfire.
Double the average
Already this year, state fire crews have battled 1,250 blazes in foothill areas, records show -- more than twice the average for this point in the season. Federal crews also report higher-than-usual numbers in forests under their watch.
Last week's wildfire in the Southern California community of Etiwanda (San Bernardino County), which charred more than 2,000 acres and temporarily sent 1,600 households packing, reveals the extent of this year's early fire danger, officials say, as does a similarly unusual 400-acre blaze near Salinas in March.
The threat of fire, they say, is already at summertime levels across much of the state.
Citing near-record dry vegetation and sparse mountain snowpack, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, announced this month that California is at risk of "significant large fire activity" at least through August.
"We're all getting a little nervous," said another Napa County resident, Robert Soper, who has lived on his 2-acre parcel since 1967. "When I was driving home, I noticed the green hillsides are turning to brown already. And when it starts to turn, it turns quickly."
Fire inspectors walked Soper's property on Thursday, looking for pine needles on his roof, high brush around propane tanks and dead trees close to his house.
Homes at risk
Any breach of the precautions that are required of all rural homeowners, the inspectors said, could not only fuel a wildfire but make it harder for firefighters to protect a home should it become threatened.
"The yard itself looks great," fire inspector Brandon Millitello told Soper. "But that back field, it's all branches hanging down."
Millitello, who said he wasn't interested in issuing a citation, asked Soper if he would clear the limbs as soon as possible. Soper, 73, said he would do it.
"As you get older, it gets a little bit harder to do the work myself," he said. "That's why I called the tree service.
Millitello and his team have done 1,650 home inspections in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties since March -- far more than usual, the inspectors said. Statewide, the number of such checkups is close to double the average.
About 1 in 10 of the visits this year has revealed a major safety violation, records show.
The increase in inspections is largely due to an annual $152 fire fee that California began to assess on rural homeowners three years ago, allowing the state to hire new inspectors. The idea is that working with property owners will save money and lives in the long run.
Gov. Jerry Brown's declaration of a drought emergency in January also expedited funding for Cal Fire, which has since added 400 seasonal firefighters to its ranks and expanded operations at many of its stations. Such bumps normally don't begin until May.
About $131 million from the state's emergency fund this fiscal year has gone to Cal Fire -- an amount that's expected to grow to more than $200 million by the end of the budgeting period on July 1.
The governor said this week that he might have to keep a lid on spending in next year's budget in order to meet the additional cost of wildfires. Cal Fire officials, meanwhile, say they're continuing to evaluate their needs and monitor their finances.
"We can never predict how many fires we're going to have," said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. "But we're way ahead of where we should be, and that number is only going to grow as we get into the warm summer months."
For more on the state's water problems, go to www.sfgate.com/drought.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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