Ahead of a warm weekend, Santa Barbara County Fire shares the causes of recent fires and tips for the community to stay safe
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service is predicting the first truly warm weekend of the year in Santa Barbara as well as notably gusty winds.
That forecast coupled with heavier rains earlier in the year creates an outsized risk of wildfires in the area.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department's Public Information Officer Captain Scott Safechuck joined Your News Channel to relay some critical information as the region heats up.
Captain Safechuck explained that removing potential fuel for fires, such as tall grasses and downed limbs, is a big part of how the community can help area firefighters.
When you are taking those fire risk reduction steps, be sure to you have a reliable source of water nearby and try to take those actions earlier in the day, preferably before 10 a.m.
Your News Channel reached out Santa Barbara County Fire Department after a series of fires happened in quick succession in the area.
Of the five notable fires in the county since mid-May and into early June, four were associated with fire mitigation efforts such as agriculture burns and grass mowing.
The other fire was caused when a bird made contact with live power lines shared the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
County-based firefighters from across the Southern California Region gathered in Los Angeles Friday to discuss cooperative efforts to prepare for fires tweeted the Ventura County Fire Department.
Today at the Los Angeles County Fire Department headquarters, the Ventura County Fire Department (#VCFD) participated in the Region 1 Operational Area Meeting to discuss wildfire readiness. Attendees included local government fire agencies from Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis… pic.twitter.com/v0g7BRnV4I
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) June 14, 2024
Some areas in Santa Barbara are particularly vulnerable to wildfires during certain weather patterns and the community is encouraged to come up with a plan to protect themselves and their loved ones as well as sign up for alerts at ReadySBC.org.
Montecito Fire Department noted that the fire danger in the area was upgraded to high through the weekend.
FIRE DANGER IN MONTECITO UPGRADED TO “HIGH”
— Montecito Fire (@montecitofire) June 14, 2024
Due to hot, dry and windy weather, please avoid activities that may spark a wildfire this weekend. pic.twitter.com/eLdn867BAL
Santa Barbara County Fire is also prepositioning assets ahead of the hotter weekend as well.
Thanks to our partners at #CalOES for funding our Operational Area resources prepositioning for tonight (6pm) until 8am tomorrow morning.
— Scott Safechuck (@SBCFireInfo) June 14, 2024
1- Hand-crew
1-dispatcher
1- Op Area Strike Team
1- Helicopter
For Ready-Set-Go preparation information, go to https://t.co/c0eR17g5JO pic.twitter.com/BWf4PkHGcN
For more information on how you can prepare for wildfires in the area visit here.
