Bay Area firefighters remind residents of wildfire risk

involved. And the images coming out of Maui are a stark reminder of the wildfire risks that we face here in the Bay Area. Cal fire jumped on a vegetation fire in Alameda County last night. Bailey Leo, Kara went to the fire scene and joins us from the newsroom with more on this story. Bailey Christina crews contain the fire to just 21 acres. This could have spread much further considering how much dry brush could have burned in that area. Now there is more fire weather on the way this coming week. But cal fire told me that they're ready and working to prepare. This was the scene last night near Livermore. Fire crews battled a vegetable fire in unincorporated Alameda County along Collier Canyon road . Nobody was hurt and there was no damage. Cal fire says this is a reminder to stay vigilant. We don't want to use the calm and mild conditions that we've experienced this year so far as a kind of false reading on the vulnerability that we're actually in. Jonathan Cox with Cal Fire said they're already preparing for what could be a dangerous week for fires in the Bay Area. We dispatch resources based on the danger for that, that exact moment. Our priority is to keep all fires or 95% of the fires at ten acres or less. And that really comes down to an aggressive initial attack. Cal Fire says they use a two pronged approach to fight fires. We can bring in additional staffing based on the conditions so as we start to look at areas that are going to have lightning or extreme heat or potentially wind , we will staff additional resources in those locations. They also use a strong initial attack utilizing California's fire Air Force, which is the largest in the world, to attack the flames from above and back staff to ensure all local fire departments remain fully staffed at all times. But Cox says weather conditions can create perfect storms for large, dangerous fires. Firefighting is very ineffective when you're up against 80 mile an hour winds. And really at that point it's just a mass evacuation until we get substantial rain. This fall and winter, the fire conditions are elevated across the state. Now Cox told me there's a few things people can do to ensure that you are ready for fire season number one. That's to have an evacuation plan in place. Number two, to ensure that there is defensible space around your property. And three, if you have to evacuate to get out early in the Newsroom. I'm Bail

Channel: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

Views: 3,110

Keywords: firefighters, bay area, firemen, livermore, alameda county, risks, reduce risk, maui, lahaina, wildfires, mitigate risk

Id: OklA2-Lxy1c

Length: 2min 34sec (154 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 14 2023