SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Southern California's wildfire season got off to a harrowing start this week that demonstrated all too clearly that the state still faces many of the same problems it did during last fall's catastrophic fires.
A half-million acres of bug-infested, tinder-dry trees have yet to be removed. Firefighting agencies are still understaffed and short on cash.
Inconsistent building codes in fire-prone areas continue to put homes at risk. Confusion persists about the rules for when to activate military aircraft. And incompatible communication networks prevent firefighters from talking to each other.
``To put firefighters on the ground and aircraft in the air means money, and there is no new money,'' said Charles Maner, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in San Diego.
This week's fires have blackened more than 29,000 acres and forced hundreds to flee their homes, mostly in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles. Those areas were largely unscathed by last year's blazes, which killed 24 people, destroyed 3,631 homes and charred nearly 750,000 acres.
Firefighters aided by milder weather had the upper hand on the fires Thursday, but officials are bracing for a long and dangerous summer, in part because of extremely hot and dry weather lately.
``I think we're sitting on a powder keg,'' said John Hawkins, a senior Forestry Department commander in San Diego during last year's fires who has since joined the Riverside County Fire Department.
Officials note several improvements this season, including better training for military pilots and new computerized systems to warn residents of fires. San Diego banned new homes with wood-shingled roofs, and federal officials Wednesday relaxed rules for sending millions of dollars to remove dead trees in three at-risk counties. The money has yet to be given out, however.
But many vulnerabilities - highlighted in a report last month by a commission formed after last year's fires - are only slowly being addressed.
The report recommended clearer rules on using federal military aircraft. Critics argued that last year's fires would have done less damage if the aircraft had been dispatched sooner. Rep. Duncan Hunter, who lost his home in the fires, waited 22 hours for two tankers that he requested, and then-Gov. Gray Davis' office met similar delays.
The report also urged reconsideration of California's rule against using firefighting aircraft after sunset. The deadliest of last year's fires was believed to have been started by a lone hunter in San Diego County who sent a distress signal about a half-hour before nightfall.
The Forestry Department is reviewing restrictions on night flying and expects to reach a decision soon, said Jim Wright, deputy director of operations.
The report also recommended better cooperation and communication among fire agencies and makes several big-ticket requests, including staffing of all engines with more firefighters and acquiring 150 more fire engines. Communication is a problem because the state's many fire agencies do not operate on the same radio frequency.
The dangers appear especially acute in San Diego County. The City Council shelved measures such as brush-clearance rules and replacement of existing wood-shingled roofs. The proposals, which were backed by the fire chief, were considered too expensive for homeowners.
San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob has met resistance to her proposal for a regional firefighting authority. The county has about 60 firefighting agencies, some of them volunteer forces that rely on pancake breakfasts to pay the bills. Wright called it a ``hodgepodge'' arrangement.
``Lots of people don't want to give up their kingdom to go into coordinated entity,'' he said.
Dan Fierro, who saw flames Tuesday night from his hilltop home in Riverside County, said he has been thinking about clearing dry brush from around his house.
``But I really haven't done anything to prepare,'' he said. ``But it's definitely in my mind as something we need to do.''
Related:
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- AP: A Look at Southern California Wildfires
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- California Fires Char More Than 8,000 Acres
- Thousands Evacuated in California Wildfire
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- San Diego Wildfire Burns Out Of Control
- Southern California Prepares for Fire Season
