As temperatures climb across San Diego County next week, Cal Fire says it is fully staffed and ready to respond as peak wildfire season gets underway.
The hottest weather is expected Thursday, with temperatures forecast to reach the mid-70s along the coast, the upper 80s to low 90s inland and triple digits in the mountains. Those hot, dry conditions are increasing concerns about wildfire potential, particularly in inland communities where vegetation has continued to dry out.
“Currently we are right about critical level on that brush, so it is ripe to burn,” Cal Fire Captain Mike Cornette said. “I would say the entire county is under risk.”
To help firefighters detect new fires as quickly as possible, Cal Fire uses AlertCalifornia, a public safety camera network operated by the University of California San Diego. The system combines hundreds of live cameras with artificial intelligence that scans for possible smoke and alerts emergency personnel across California.
“They’re [the cameras] looking for something that looks like smoke — it might be dust, it might be a shadow — but it will send an alert,” Cornette said.
The technology has already proven successful in San Diego County.
“There has been some successes here in San Diego County where the system caught a fire and we had the fire extinguished and everybody was released and we never had a 911 call,” he said.
Cal Fire says it has ramped up to peak staffing across all 42 of its fire stations, with nearly 1,000 firefighters, dispatchers and support personnel ready to respond.
“That’s everybody from all of our firefighters on the floor to our dispatchers and everybody in between,” Cornette said. “Now that we’re in peak fire season — we’re never technically out of fire season — we’ve brought on all that extra staff.”
Fire crews also continue training daily while examining changing weather conditions, humidity and fuel moisture throughout the county.
“We constantly monitor throughout the day the temperature, the humidity, the wind — the things that are going to affect a wildland fire,” Cornette said.
This year’s wildfire season also follows a drier-than-average start to the year. While January brought significant rainfall, the following months have been unusually dry. The San Diego area received just over five inches of rain during the first six months of the year — about an inch below average — while some mountain locations saw precipitation totals roughly six inches below normal.
Although Cal Fire says the rainfall deficit is not an immediate cause for alarm, it is one more factor contributing to elevated fire danger as vegetation dries out.
Cornette also reminded residents that people play a major role in preventing wildfires.
“95% of wildland fires are human-caused,” he said, noting that sparks from equipment such as lawn mowers, grinders and welders can quickly ignite dry grass and brush.
“Our motto is ‘One less spark, one less wildland fire,’ so do the right thing the right way.”
For those heading outdoors during the hot weather, Cornette encouraged hikers and recreationists to stay hydrated, wear lightweight clothing and avoid venturing into remote areas alone. He also urged residents creating defensible space around their homes to work during the cooler morning hours and keep a hose or fire extinguisher nearby.
Until meaningful rainfall returns, Cal Fire says it will continue maintaining peak staffing and a high level of readiness to protect communities across San Diego County.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.