Fire danger not over yet

SAN DIEGO – Applying lessons learned just a week ago, Southern California is lining up fire crews and aircraft to get a jump on wildfires if the hot, dry Santa Ana winds expected to return this weekend cause major flare-ups.

None of more than two dozen air tankers and military helicopters that arrived from around the country to fight last month’s blazes are returning to their home bases, said Francis Solich, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“If anything breaks loose, they’ll be here,” Solich said Friday.

The state also has 75 “strike teams” of five engines spread throughout Southern California, Solich said.

Also Friday, Marines began training with state firefighters at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and will be available to join firefighting efforts this weekend if needed.

“We are training them on how to work in our airspace. The Marines are great pilots, but they don’t have any experience in how we fight fires,” said CDF Capt. Matt Streck.

When more than 15 fires began breaking out across Southern California two weeks ago, it took more than 24 hours for nearly two dozen firefighting helicopters to get into the air.

In all, the fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes across a swath of Southern California stretching from north of Los Angeles to south of San Diego.

As firefighters prepared for this weekend’s winds, several small fires continued to burn in sparsely populated areas. Also, two large ones had yet to be fully contained.

The forecast this weekend called for Santa Ana winds gusting to 50 mph near the cities of San Bernardino and Fontana, east of Los Angeles, and in the mountains near hard-hit Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles County.