Officials warn Southern Californians to clear brush and prepare for fire season – Daily Breeze

Cadets listen as Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone speaks during a kickoff ceremony for the first cohort of the Los Angeles County Training Center Fire Camp in Calabasas, Thursday, March 21 2024. The live volunteer camp provides firefighting and other training, with priority for justice actors, family system survivors and veterans. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Public safety officials on Friday, June 14, reminded Southerners to be vigilant when clearing brush from their properties during the 2024 wildfire season – and to have evacuation plans in place if necessary.

“As we have all seen, Mother Nature has brought us significant rainfall in Southern California over the past two years, which was much needed across the state of California,” said Anthony Marrone, chief of Los Angeles County Fire Department, in a meeting on several occasions. agency press conference Friday morning at LACoFD headquarters.

“The rain produced large fields of revegetation throughout the region, and this year we saw areas that received almost 200 percent more rain than usual,” Marrone said. “Unfortunately, this vegetation will soon dry out and fuel wildfires, including in the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley.

“That’s why we must continue to remain vigilant and share with residents and communities the importance of preparing for wildfires that will occur this summer and into the fall, when dangerous Santa Ana winds return.” …We can never let our guard down. Marrone said.

Marrone is the coordinator of California State Fire and Rescue Region One, which covers Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

“As such, I work with my fire service partners so that we can quickly dispatch mutual aid resources in the event of a large-scale emergency, such as a wind-driven wildfire,” Marrone said . “With our full range of ground and air resources available 24 hours a day in our five counties…we want to assure our residents and communities that your firefighters in these five counties are prepared and ready to respond at a moment’s notice.” »

Among other top fire officials at the news conference was Kristin Crowley, chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“We spent a lot of time this morning talking about how we're prepared — about our partnership, about our collaboration with the fire service leaders behind me,” Crowley said. “Our 'boots on the ground' and the firefighters here are equally important and fully committed to ensuring we are ready for the upcoming brush season.

“But with that…we all know it’s going to take more than just a prepared fire department – ​​it’s going to take a prepared community as well,” Crowley said.

Crowley urged residents to be vigilant in creating “defensible space” on their properties between buildings and vegetation that could catch fire.

“We need to understand … that this will help your local fire department protect lives and property,” Crowley said. “I just want to define what it is: It’s a buffer that you create between a building on your property and the grasses, trees, shrubs or wild areas around it.”

Crowley noted that efforts to keep the property free of combustibles should continue throughout the year, not just during wildfire season.

“Wildfire season can peak in certain months – and that’s why we’re here today,” Crowley said. “But the risk is present all year round. …Together we can make this bushfire season safer for everyone.

Officials also reminded people to have an evacuation plan ready if they are ordered to leave their property for safety reasons, including knowing multiple routes out of a neighborhood.

More information is available on brush clearing and other public safety topics at www.LAFD.org. Information about state resources, including grants to residents to help fireproof their properties, is available at www.fire.ca.gov. Information on general wildfire preparedness is available at www.readyforwildfire.org.