Though California fire season is year-round, the Santa Ana winds are a risk in the fall months through December because they have started some of the largest fires in the county, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Pat Sprengel.
And while there hasn’t been a big fire in La Cañada Flintridge sparked from Santa Ana winds, Sprengel said the risk is always present in fall and winter months because of its mountainous area.
“Sometimes the community forgets about the threat of wildland fire and Santa Ana winds,” Sprengel told the Outlook Valley Sun.
In collaboration with the National Weather Service, the Los Angeles County Fire Department is given at least 72 hours’ notice to prepare for a Santa Ana wind event that could be impactful for the community and possibly ignite a fire that would spread quickly.
“Santa Ana winds occur when air from a region of high pressure over the dry, desert region of the southwestern U.S. flows westward towards low pressure located off the California coast,” reads the National Weather Service website. “This creates dry winds that flow east to west through the mountain passages in Southern California. These strong winds can cause major property damage. They also increase wildfire risk because of the dryness of the winds and the speed at which they can spread a flame across the landscape.”
Sprengel said that the last large fire near LCF, driven by Santa Ana winds, was the San Rafael fire in 1990, which started at Descanso Gardens and blew over the 2 Freeway south into the city of Glendale.
Typically, Sprengel said it takes about two inches of rain to officially consider calling an end to the fire season for the department.
“Two inches of rain is what it usually takes to start churning the [landscapes] green and building the live fuel moistures to get moisture in the plants and the grass up,” said Sprengel. “What that does is that it stops the potential for a fire to start, get a wind behind it and then carry fire.”
But Sprengel said that this year is different, after receiving rain from Tropical Storm Hillary in August, which grew live fuel moistures to about 90%, when usually they are at 60%.
There is less risk for fire this year with live fuel moistures higher than average.
But there is “still a threat and potential for large fire growth,” said Sprengel. “Riverside just had a fire probably three weeks ago that burned about 1,500 acres that was under wind-driven conditions.”
During this time of the year, there will be about an average of eight Santa Ana wind events that last about three days each and between each event will be a break period lasting up to 12 days.
“Going from now until the end of the season, I would say they’ll probably be two to three Santa Ana wind events of varying degrees,” said Sprengel.
The warning signs that the department will see that could bring forth a Santa Ana wind event include low humidity levels, warm weather and sustained or frequent wind that exceeds 25 mph.
“That’s why the fire increases exponentially with wind behind it because it’s putting embers out in front of it, starting new fires,” said Sprengel. “It literally makes fires blow up, potentially, and when homes get in the way, that’s when we have our issues.”
If conditions get serious, the department will put into effect a red flag warning to communities in possible danger through social media, and a newer initiative called Genasys Protect, which allows residents to track their zones or neighborhoods and be alerted if they need to evacuate.
Annual brush inspections and the Ready! Set! Go! plan is also a huge part of the department’s initiative to keep communities prepared and safe during the season.
“So unfortunately, in La Cañada, we live in a wildfire prone area, and we need to be prepared,” said Sprengel. “It’s all about preparation for when that incident comes.”
Changing weather has also contributed to the way Sprengel has seen fires burn quicker.
“Over my last 30 years, I’m sure that climate change has had something to do with the way fires burn in L.A. County,” said Sprengel. “[They tend] to burn hotter and quicker at times. Some of it has to do with the fuels and the wind conditions, etc.”
“We always prepare for the worst,” added Sprengel. “This year was obviously different than others because we got that storm that came through, and that really put a real slowdown on our fire season this year. The downfall to that is we don’t want residents to get complacent.”
The department prepares when they know a Santa Ana wind event is coming by adding additional resources to areas and setting up patrols to make sure they can catch the fire at its smallest stage.
“The idea is to catch these fires when they’re small,” said Sprengel. “Our target is to keep the fire small and send as many resources as we can to knock that fire out before it becomes a big issue.”
Sprengel wants the community of LCF to know that there is always risk for fires driven by Santa Ana wind events and residents should always be prepared for the worst.
“We need to be aware of these Santa Ana wind events, and the potential it poses to La Cañada,” said Sprengel. “These fires are certainly a threat. Living in La Cañada, as beautiful as it is, can be dangerous at times, and we can’t let our guard down just because we got it easy this year.”
He said that extreme Santa Ana wind events could last up to weeks where a fire can continually get worse and worse and get some help from the National Weather Service to see when the weather pattern will change, for the better.
“We get fires every month in L.A. County, but the ones that are really hard to control are the ones during the Santa Ana wind events,” said Sprengel.
The National Weather Service forecast a potential Santa Ana wind event this week with elevated wind gusts.
“The next one in the next couple of days is supposed to be a small Santa Ana wind event, and we’re still on notice and will be prepared,” said Sprengel.
First published in the December 7 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
