As the weather heats up, so do fire fears.
Alameda County was among the Bay Area counties that issued a red flag warning for Monday night. East Bay firefighters are warning people to be vigilant and use precaution.
For Oakland Hills resident Dale King, the summer sun and fire danger are nothing new and neither is preparing.
“It’s making sure that your backyard, your grass, any type of weeds or anything of that nature have been cut down,” he said.
King added that he's already done his part to reduce fire risk by cutting down brush and creating defensible space around his hillside home.
“I don’t want to be the one that caused the neighborhood to start a fire or whatever it may be. It would be severe, it wouldn’t just be a single home,” he said.
Goats were grazing the hills on Monday, and they are also helping firefighters clear vegetation that can fuel those hillside fires.
Residents in this high fire danger area said every bit helps.
“It’s important it’s good for the neighborhood. It’s important that everybody does their thing and make sure nothing bad happens,” said Oakland resident Amir Akbari.
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Firefighters responded to 17 confirmed fires on Sunday.
“One of the biggest concerns that we face here in Oakland and in the county in general is the multiple high days of heat,” said Oakland fire battalion Chief James Bowron. “We get the multiple high days of heat and then, the evenings don’t allow for fuel moisture recovery.”
With parts of Alameda County under a red flag fire warning on Monday, Bowron said residents should avoid using lawn mowers, and use extreme caution if their holiday plans include cooking outdoors.
“Fires are easy to start but they are also easy to sustain. Then the biggest thing is if we get the winds that come with the possibility of the red flag, the winds are really what causes the most problems,” he said.
Oakland fire is patrolling high risk areas and continuing their vegetation management program. The red flag warning for the East Bay hills officially goes into effect Monday night and will last until at least 11 p.m. Tuesday.
