Fire Danger to Increase over Weekend

Devastating fires, from the recent Springs fire in Camarillo in early May to the Painted Cave fire in Santa Barbara in June of 1990 had hot, dry windy weather conditions in common.

Those conditions are expected to return this weekend.

Forecasters from the National Weather Service in Oxnard issued a fire weather watch for Oct. 4-6.

Cal Fire has already increased staffing for those days.

Other city and county crews may follow suit.

The forecast calls for single-digit humidity, strong offshore winds and high temperatures.

And to make matters worse, firefighters said about 40 percent of the plants are tinder dry, causing critical conditions.

They want people heading into wild land areas to be aware that the conditions are not typical for October.

They also offered fire prevention tips when fire danger is high:

–Don’t mow the lawn.

–Never pull your car over in dry grass.

–Never burn leaves of branches on no burn days.

–Ensure campfires are allowed and extinguish them completely.

–Make sure gas-powered equipment have spark arresters.

Report anything suspicious.

Firefighters say 94 percent of wildfires are caused by people.

They say “One less spark means one less wildfire.”

By issuing advance warnings, they hope people who live along the central coast will be cautious.