Sac Metro Fire says 500 percent increase in fire calls so far this year #CaFire

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Sac Metro Fire says 500 percent increase in fire calls so far this year #CaFire

SACRAMENTO- Sac Metro Fire says they’ve seen a 500 percent increase in fire calls so far this year, with an unusually dry start to 2014.

Rolling out on a call is a perfectly normal thing for firefighters around Sacramento.

But with conditions dry enough to be shrinking waterways throughout the area, they’re being called to respond five times more than usual to grass fires.

“Last year we had seven reported grass fires in the first 20 days [of the year]. This year up to 35,” Metro Fire Captain Jon Rudnicki said Monday.

Metro and other agencies are facing brush so deprived of moisture in what’s supposed to be the rainy season, that its water content is similar to what it would be after baking through August.

“This year, it’s really an all-around risk and people need to remember to maintain that clearance around their home to deep the debris away from their residence,” he said.

Even this late into January, Captain Rudnicki says one piece of debris around your house that you might night be thinking about is that Christmas tree that you haven’t sawed up or hauled off just yet.

No longer green, after not being watered in weeks, it could be the unfortunate fuel that helps your home go up in flames thanks to a stray spark.

And if you still have strings of lights attached to your house and an outlet, Rudnicki says taking them down will take down a significant fire threat.Source: http://fox40.com/2014/01/20/metro-fire-notes-exponential-increase-in-calls/#ixzz2r0ub0KWk

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CFN - California Fire News 2013

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Tuesday, January 21, 2014