Fire Conditions Just Below Woolsey Level: County Fire Says
Written by 991KBU on October 24, 2019
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“We expect extreme fire behavior potential.
“Right now we have critical fuel moistures in this area
“We are expecting very high winds.
“We have had sustained hot temperatures for days now.
“So we expect significant fire problems should we get a start out here.”
That’s L A County Fire spokesman Tony Imbrenda … standing on the side of the road yesterday … assessing where we are in terms of the Santa Ana winds poised to hit us today … tonight and tomorrow.
Expect winds to rapidly increase in coverage and strength in the mtns L.A and VTU Counties early this morning.
Around daybreak or shortly thereafter, these winds should spread into the valleys of VTU County, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys, into coastal sections of VTU County and into coastal sections of L.A. County below passes and canyons from Malibu to the Hollywood Hills.
Los Angeles County firefighter has assigned extra crews for brushfire protection.
All firetrucks in the Malibu area have an additional crew member.
Five extra trucks … about 27 firefighters … in the mountains.
Extra patrol trucks in the mountains as well.
A large number of fire trucks was spotted last night … parked on the beach at Pacific Palisades.
There is a small brushfire … broken out overnight … in San Bernardino County’s mountains.
In Malibu … the fire department’s Imbrenda says fire conditions today are almost as bad as the day the Woolsey Fire hit.
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“I think we are probably not quite as high … but the potential for something like that to occur is there… because we do have wind speeds that are going to be comparable than we did last year … because we did have normal rainfall in the region.”
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Southern California Edison has already cut power to 8 thousand customer accounts … on account of high winds and shaky power lines.
Nearest circuits to Malibu … the hills above Santa Paula.
Power blackouts may creep towards Malibu as the winds spread from the north.
Late yesterday… the western part of Malibu was put on notice that the power company may shut off the lights early tomorrow morning.
A three hour window … from 3 to 6 in the morning tomorrow … the likely period for highest winds.
That’s according to the supercomputers and weather forecasters at Southern- California Edison.
Malibu High School is in the blackout warning area.
Malibu Elementary and Webster Elementary schools are not.
If there’s a blackout .. a decision will be made at 6:30 in the morning as to whether to cancel school.
