LOCAL : Orange County Fire Officials Urge Caution to Avoid Flare-Ups

A hot Santa Ana condition that has caused desert-like winds to blow throughout most of Orange County this morning prompted fire officials worried about more flare-ups in the county’s bone-dry hills to place firefighters on alert and urge residents to take precautions.

In the wake of two small brush fires in Yorba Linda that burned seven acres Monday, Orange County fire officials said they have put two strike teams on active duty, one in the Santiago Canyon area near Villa Park and one in Rancho Santa Margarita in South County.

“They (firefighters) are loaded up, suited and ready to go,” Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young said. “They will be on the road within seconds.”

Temperatures reached as high as 95 degrees this morning, and winds blowing through the Santiago Canyon were clocked at 20 m.p.h., fire spokeswoman Maria Sabol said. With humidity at 15%, the department will put its stations on red flag alert, the highest alert status, if the wind speed increases by 5 m.p.h., she said.

Sabol warned, however, that residents should take extra precautions, especially on the heels of a four-year drought that has reduced vegetation on the rolling hills of the county’s rural areas to a tinder-like condition.

Young said that fire trucks are out patrolling the county’s trouble spots, not only looking for signs of smoke, but acting as psychological deterrents to people who may carelessly spark a blaze.

“Our engines are out there in high profile,” Young said. “They’re monitoring and looking for problems. Just looking at a fire engine makes people think about fire prevention.”