With more than 15,000 firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other emergency support teams stationed throughout Southern California, fire authorities believe Los Angeles County is prepared for the most recent critical fire weather alert.
A Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning was issued by the National Weather Service for a large portion of Ventura and Los Angeles counties from 4 a.m. on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday. Some of the fiercest gusts may occur in places like the Ventura County valleys, the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, the Malibu Coast, the San Gabriel Valley, and the 118 and 210 freeway corridors.
According to Cal Fire, more than 300 workers are ready for the red flag warning circumstances of the Particularly Dangerous Situation.
This occurs when firefighters strive to keep containment lines around the Palisades and Eatonfires as long as possible.
The NWS stated that although PDSs and red flag warnings do not foretell fires, they do identify a very hazardous climate that would encourage a fire to spread quickly if it were to break out.
“Tomorrow will see more severe fire weather conditions. The late afternoon and early Wednesday hours of today are expected to see the greatest winds. “The Los Angeles County region is ready, so rest assured,” said Anthony Marrone, chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
According to Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, the department has manned all of its resources and is placing fire engines and patrols strategically in the city’s high-risk zones for fires.
“Destructive, life-threatening winds are already present. We are adopting an aggressive lean-forward stance for this important wind event,” Crowley stated.
“We are carefully managing our operations so that we can quickly respond to any new fires, in addition to the increased call volume across the city of Los Angeles.”
Although extremely dangerous conditions are anticipated, weather forecasters predict that this wind event is not anticipated to be as powerful and catastrophic as the windstorm that occurred last week.
“Everyone is inquiring about first responders and firefighters. They are strong, they keep their heads up, and they will keep working hard for you, I can assure you,” Crowley remarked.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said that because of the persistent wind conditions, Red Flag parking restrictions were implemented in the city on Monday. The limitations are intended to help keep streets clean in the event that evacuation orders are issued and to guarantee quicker reaction times to rapidly spreading brush fires.
To ensure compliance, drivers should watch for “Red Flag Days” when there are no parking signs.