Recent warm weather drying out hillside grasses
n By Lori Stuenkel and Marilyn Dubil
Staff Writers
The rain kept coming and the weeds kept growing. In some places around South Valley, weeds stand thick and waist high.
The widespread plants that are drying in the heat of recent warm spring days offer a reminder that fire season is here.
On Monday at 2:05pm, California Department of Forestry firefighters responded to what was reported as a possible structure fire, but it turned out to be someone burning agricultural waste without a permit.
The initial response brought several engines from the area as well as bulldozers and a helicopter. The CDF said this will be a typical response for the South County area for the remainder of the fire season.
Results of the investigation will be turned over to the Bay Area Air Quality Control District for possible issuance of a citation for an illegal burn.
Fire officials said it is too early for any doom-and-gloom predictions about the impending fire season, but with the rainfall pretty much finished for the year, they are urging property and home owners to clear away fire fuel before it becomes a hazard.
“I don’t know if fire season is going to be any worse, but we do have a healthy grass crop out there,” said Chris Morgan, fire prevention specialist with the Morgan Hill-based California Department of Forestry.
Natural vegetation at higher elevations will likely dry out later in the season than usual, given the wet winter and early spring. However, plants and brush at lower elevations are already beginning to dry out, Morgan said. The taller the grass, the faster it will lose moisture.
Ken Kehmna, new battalion chief for Santa Clara County Fire Department’s Morgan Hill operations, said the department always plans for the worse.
“In my 20 years of experience, every year we say could be the worst, every year is fraught with the same amount of potential,” Kehmna said. “Whether those factors will line up and the worse come true, nobody knows, but we certainly prepare as if it will. One thing I do know for sure is that the late rains brought tall grass, and a lot of it. The potential is there for problems.”
There are things the public can do, he said, to decrease the chances of a fire near their homes.
“Create defensible space,” he said. “That’s a big thing. In other words, use drought-resistant plants near the home, and clear out all tall grass, weeds, woodpiles, leaves from around the home. Anyone can stop by one of the stations and we can give you more information about what you can do and about hillside safety.
The rains which spurred the growth of the excessively tall grasses could also be a plus.
The official start of fire season is difficult to predict because it is dependent on the weather – more rain could push it further back – but Morgan expects it could come soon. But now is the time to whack those weeds that are brown or shortly will be.
“One thing that we’re really encouraging people to do now is … get on doing clearances around their houses,” Morgan said. “We can’t emphasize that enough.”
Kehmna agreed, and said residents can help prevent starting fires by using lawn mowers early in the day before the heat and wind pick up and while the moisture is higher.
In the hills west of Morgan Hill, CDF will be inspecting homes to ensure landscaping within 30 feet is irrigated, roofs and gutters are cleaned, and dead limbs are removed. Dead and dying vegetation must not only be cleared and raked up, but hauled away to prevent fires, Morgan said.
CDF conducted more wildfire outreach during the second week of May, “Wildfire Awareness Week.” In a program started last year, firefighters hosted “checkpoints” in certain unincorporated areas, such as those near Croy and Eastman canyons – where a destructive 2002 fire burned 3,200 acres – and handed out weed abatement and fire safety information.
CDF’s seasonal firefighters started arriving in the area the following week, Morgan said, and more stations, including locations on No Name Uno and Hecker Pass Highway, will come on-line as needed.
Kehmna said SCCFD also brings in additional firefighters for the fire season, “staffing for the worst” situation.
Through the week, Morgan Hill’s weather is expected to continue to be warm and dry, in the mid- to upper-80s during the day with light winds; overnight lows in the low 50s are expected.
For more information about areas outside city limits, contact the California Department of Forestry at 779-2121. For information within city limits, call the Santa Clara County Fire Department at 378-4010.
