Memorial Day Marks Beginning Of Busy Bay Area Fire Season
FREMONT (KCBS) — Memorial Day marks the official start of the summer fire season in the Bay Area. As a result, state fire crews are increasing staffing to prepare for what could be some busy, hot summer months.
According to Battalion Chief Jim Crawford, there's been an increase in fire activity across the Bay over the last couple of weeks with dry grasses ready to burn.
"We had kind of planned this to be the right time. We've been increasing our staffing and bringing our seasonal personnel back on," Crawford said.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
Meanwhile, city fire departments are also preparing to fight more the expected increase in blazes.
"It changes our outlook as far as response because the wild land becomes volatile as it gets yellow so we get a lot more impact from the fire," said Tom Mulvihill, battalion Chief with the Fremont Fire Department.
He said they'll also add extra equipment to some fire stations during this season.
"We have an off-road; they call them Type-3 fire engines, assigned to each one of these fire companies that are in the hill area," Mulvihill said.
He concluded the increase in activity is mainly due to lower rainfall levels this past winter.
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