Crime & Safety

Fire Danger Due to Dry Winter

Unusual dry weather may cause fire risk into spring and summer seasons.

Cal Fire is increasing its staff and canceling burn days and planned debris burning in response to increased fire danger because of an unusually dry winter, Cal Fire officials said.

The agency said that over the last month there were an increased number of fires for a typical December, when wildfire activity usually slows as wetter weather sets in across the state.

But despite low temperatures, precipitation has been unusually low, and the statewide water content is at 19 percent of normal.

Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Officials said that the lack of precipitation could potentially cause even greater fire danger in the spring and summer months, as well.

"We will be monitoring the rain levels over the next couple months, as it will be an indicator of the type of fire activity spring and summer will bring," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said.

Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cal Fire is also asking residents of California to be extremely cautious not to start a wildfire, particularly on windy days.

—Bay City News Service


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.