Officials Say Low Rainfall Spells Wildfire Risk for SoCal

January's rain did little to lessen the fire danger in Ventura County and Southern California.

"We've not only had less-than-average rainfall, but there is a two-year accumulation of very dry fuel out there," said Bill Nash, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesman.

While recent rain dampened the grass and shrubs covering the county's hillsides and fields, those plants soon turned dry after the storms.

To lessen the danger of wildfire, fire crews are thinning out dead vegetation, Nash said, putting much of what is cut into a wood chipper.

Crews are repairing fire roads and encouraging homeowners to create "defensible spaces" around their homes by removing anything that could burn.

Firefighters also are training what to do in case of a wildfire in the area.

Authorities with the California Department of Water Resources have said this winter is one of three driest since the department began taking measurements in 1946.

"So far, we just haven't received

a decent number of winter storms," department Director Mark Cowin said in a statement.

Cowin is more pessimistic now than he was a month ago, when he said, "We still have most of our winter ahead of us."

Electronic measurements taken last week estimate the statewide snowpack at 37 percent of normal for this time of year and 23 percent of the average reading on April 1, about the time when the spring thaw starts.

It's the same story across much of the state, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Weather Service.

Camarillo, the only Ventura County location listed in the report, received 4.63 inches of rain from July 1 through Tuesday. This represents 60 percent of the 7.71 inches of rain Camarillo normally would receive for this period. By comparison, Camarillo received 12.17 inches of rain during the same period the previous year.

The lack of rain combined with a large amount of combustible material means Ventura County fire officials must be more vigilant "over the coming year and beyond," Nash said.

"It is a bullet we can't continue to dodge," Nash said of the wildfire danger.

Adding to the fire danger is an increasing number of homes that abut wildland areas, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

With more people living in these areas, more homes will be in the path of wildfires, Patzert said.

Patzert is predicting a drier-than-normal February and March. "Most places in the state are 50 to 75 percent of normal," he said.

While the Fire Department takes many precautions to help protect properties and homes from wildfire, "The reality is during a major wildfire, there will simply not be enough fire engines or firefighters to defend every home," the department said in a bulletin.

"So you must become part of the solution," officials said.

They added that many residents have built their homes and landscaped the grounds around them "without fully understanding the impact a fire could have on them."

It's not a question of if, but when, the next wildfire will occur, officials said.

"That's why the most important person protecting your life and property is not a firefighter, but you," the bulletin stated.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service