Amador County – The dry winter has California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on alert state-wide, after Tuesday’s first snow survey of the year.

CDF Information and Education Officer Daniel Berlant said Tuesday’s first snow survey “has CAL FIRE officials concerned about increased fire danger. The lack of precipitation across the state has led to one of the driest winters on record,” with “statewide water content is at 19 percent of normal.”

Berlant said despite many areas of California “experiencing cooler temperatures, the drier than normal conditions, coupled with wind events and low humidity, have frequently increased the fire danger over the past month.” He said Cal-Fire crews last month “responded to an increased number of wildfires for a typical December.”

Chief Ken Pimlott, the Cal-Fire director said “fire activity in Northern California during winter is very rare, where snow covered mountains and rain soaked hillsides typically keep the fire danger relatively low. We will be monitoring the rain levels over the next couple months, as it will be an indicator of the type of fire activity spring and summer will bring.”

In response to the above normal December activity, Cal-Fire “has been able to increase its staffing using its 4,700 permanent employees with the help of Cal-Fire inmate fire crews.” Berlant said “in many areas Cal-Fire has cancelled burn days or even banned debris burning. The public is asked to be extra cautious due to the dry conditions, especially on windy days.”

For more fire safety tips visit ReadyForWildfire.org or fire.ca.gov.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.