SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - Santa Ana winds are prompting a Wind Advisory in San Diego County and putting residents on high alert.
CAL FIRE Captain Thomas Shoots says it’s normal for Santa Anas to blow this time of year, but firefighters are seeing fire season last longer into the wet months.
“We have potential now which we’ve never really seen before in these wind events which in the wintertime after some rain used to not be as quite a big deal but it’s a big deal,” said Captain Shoots.
Historically, winter months bring decent rain totals, helping mitigate the risk for fire, but recently, fires have still spread. Captain Shoots cited a fire in the Big Sur area in January of this year, saying the fire spread quickly because of strong winds despite heavy rain totals this past winter.
“The wind has a very strong ability to overcome a lot, it doesn’t have to be super hot, the relative humidity doesn’t have to be super low, the wind can power through and can essentially allow the fire to preheat everything for us so it’s a concern for us, it’s always a big concern,” he said.
The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory that continues until 10 a.m. Saturday.
Captain Shoots said San Diego residents need to be weather aware year-round because the fire risk never truly goes away.
“Try not to live from one weather event to the next. It’s hard not to focus on these big events and we do want people to perk up a little bit and pay attention when the wind is blowing strong but we don’t want that to be the time when they start preparing,” he said.
