Increased Staffing and Pre-Positioned Firefighting Resources in Preparation for Strong Winds

Published:

Sacramento – Both CAL FIRE and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services are preparing for the potential Critical Fire Weather for areas of Northern California. The National Weather Service is predicting gustyand dry offshore winds and low humidity beginning early Wednesday morning and into Thursday.

“The tragic fires that have occurred during this time of year, should reminder everyone to be prepared for the unexpected.  We have increased our staffing, but need the public to remain vigilant as dry north winds can increase the chance of a spark igniting a major fire,” said CAL FIRE Chief Thom Porter. 

“We are urging all of those in the Public Safety Power Shutoff impact areas to take action now to prepare for extended periods of no power,” said Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. “We are coordinating closely with our state and local government counterparts to ensure all emergency response assets are made available to mitigate the impacts of this wind event.”

During times of elevated fire danger, everyone is asked to exercise extreme caution when in or near the wildland or open areas to prevent sparking a fire. One Less Spark, means One Less Wildfire. A few helpful reminders and safety tips include:

  • Don’t mow or trim dry grass on windy days
  • Never pull your vehicle over in dry grass
  • Target shoot only in approved areas, use lead ammunition only, and never at metal
  • Ensure campfires are allowed, and if so, be sure to extinguish them completely
  • Report any suspicious activities to prevent arson

For more fire prevention tips and evacuation steps visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

CAL FIRE – Increased staffing as follows:

Staff ALL CAL FIRE Crews and one STL per camp 24hrs/day

Staff all CAL FIRE Dozers 24hrs/day

Staff ECC & OCC with additional support as appropriate

Staff Region Intel as appropriate

Early up Air Attack base with 1 Air Attack, 2 Tankers & base personnel as needed at 5 northern CAL FIRE air bases.

Marin staff 2 Mt. Tam Crews 24hrs/day

Preposition 5 Engine Strike Teams: Shasta County (Redding), Glenn County (Willows), Butte County (Chico), Yolo County (Davis), Santa Clara County (Concord)

Preposition CWN Type 1 Copters:

1 Each Copter at Sonoma Air Attack Base, Chico Base, and Livermore

Preposition CAL FIRE Copters:

1 Copter Auburn (C-202)

1 Copter

Additional Staffing Pattern Elements:  

Staff Additional Investigators for Region Response.

 

Cal OES Fire & Rescue – Pre-position fire apparatus and personnel to augment local resources.

Updated 11/20/19 AM

Marin County

  • Five Local Government Type 3 Fire Engines
  • One Local Government Water Tender
  • One Emergency Dispatcher

Solano County

  • Five Local Government Type 3 Fire Engines

Napa County

  • Five Local Government Type 3 Fire Engines

Contra Costa County

  • One Local Government Type 1 and four Type 3 Fire Engines
  • One Local Government Dozer
  • One Local Government Water Tender
  • One Emergency Dispatcher

Sonoma County

  • Five Local Government Type 3 Fire Engines
  • One Cal OES Water Tender
  • One Emergency Dispatcher

Lake County

  • Four Local Government Fire Engines
  • One Local Government Water Tender
  • One Emergency Dispatcher

Colusa County

  • Four Local Government Fire Engines
  • One Local Government Water Tender

Tehama County

  • Four Local Government Fire Engines
  • One Local Government Water Tender

1 Comment

  1. John Thomen

    Propositioning fire resources in areas of the most concern is a great idea. The locations forecasted to experience high winds low RH, and critically low moisture are the ones OES are staffing and could make the difference between keeping a fire small vs it becoming a disaster just by having resources pre-posted. These areas also experience PG&E psps during these weather events and increase the use of generators that have in several cases started small fires during the outages

    Reply

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