SACRAMENTO, California — Area fire departments are preparing for increased wildfire risks while a large portion of Northern California falls under its first Red Flag Warning of the year.
"We know as the north winds come in, dries the fuels out, relative humidity drops significantly, and these fuels that are already bone dry, they can spark up without notice and cause mass destruction," said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Captain Parker Wilbourn.
The Red Flag Warning comes a day after a dramatic three-car crash in rural Sacramento County involving a garbage truck that burst into flames and a snapped high voltage power lines, causing a two-acre grass fire.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire crews were able to limit the fire to two and a half acres, but if such an crash had happened under Red Flag conditions, Wilbourn said it could have been a different story.
"That fire could have really taken off; we would have had hundreds of acres burned," Wilbourn said.
Officials say it's critical that people take precautions during these conditions by properly disposing of cigarette butts, putting out camp fires completely, and refraining from using lawnmowers on dry grass.
Thanks to a very wet winter season, California has not seen as many massive and destructive wildfires as in recent years. However, Wilbourn says vegetation is drying out fast.
"We’re going to start to see those fuel moistures dry out toward the end of the year," Wilbourn said. "We've got dry, dry fuels that bump directly into homes."
WATCH ALSO:
