Red-flag fire danger lurks under blue skies in Los Angeles
Santa Ana winds left Southern California skies sunny and blue Saturday but kept firefighting strike teams on the lookout for any hint of fire as brush-covered hillsides quickly dried out in rising temperatures. No major brush fires were reported in the region by Saturday night.
A red-flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for Los Angeles and Ventura counties is expected to persist until about 4 p.m. today, when temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s in some places.
Jamie Meyer, a meteorologist for the weather service, said there had been gusts as strong as 60 to 70 mph in the Angeles National Forest, the Sylmar area and the Malibu Hills. But winds are expected to weaken tonight and into Monday, with gusts dropping to 35 mph in the foothills and mountains.
Meyer said fire officials had determined that the strength and duration of the winds provided “time to dry things out enough so that we have a critical danger.”
Because of dry and windy conditions, parking will be prohibited until at least 8 a.m. Monday on narrow and curvy roads in the designated “red flag” hilly areas of Los Angeles at risk of brush fires, according to the L.A. Fire Department.
The Southern California region experienced two storms in December that left many hilly areas relatively green with new vegetation. But it doesn’t take long for that to turn into fuel for potential fires when Santa Ana winds barrel through for a couple of days.
The National Weather Service office in Oxnard had bolstered staffing and was gathering more fire-weather forecasts because of the increasing heat and wind. There was also increased communication with fire officials about what they were seeing in the field, Meyer said.
There are “fuel beds out there that haven’t burned in 15 years, like along the 101 corridor,” Sam Padilla, an inspector for the L.A. County Fire Department, said. “It’s content that hasn’t burned in a long time, and more rain means more brush. It’s a Catch-22.”
He said strike teams made up of five engine crews and a battalion chief were in predetermined locations throughout the county, prepared to respond in case fire broke out.
“We are watching,” Padilla said.
The high winds interfered with efforts Saturday to right and move three tractor-trailers that had been knocked to their sides on freeways near Ontario and Mira Loma late Friday night, according to the CHP. No one was hurt in those incidents, and the trailers remained on the shoulders, not blocking traffic, on the 10 and 60 freeways near the 15 Saturday until the winds eased, the CHP said.
No travel restrictions were issued for Saturday or today.
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Times staff writer Larry Gordon contributed to this report.
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