The traditional start of the fire season is tomorrow, and to prepare for wildfires, Cal Fire will add one firefighter to the staff at each of its 26 fire engines in San Diego County.
But Capt. Nick Schuler of Cal Fire noted that June 1 is no longer the start of fire season because wildfires occur year-round.
In the past couple of weeks, a brush fire burned 100 acres and damaged three homes in Pala and another blaze scorched 60 acres in the Cottonwood area
of Rancho San Diego. There have been numerous other brush fires smaller than 10 acres.
Moving toward what Schuler called ``peak staffing'' means that each state-funded engine will be manned by four firefighters.
As temperatures warm up, fire officials want homeowners to create 100- foot defensible spaces around houses, and for property-owners to do their brush
clearance and other machinery use before 10:30 a.m. Many brush fires are caused by sparks from blades striking rocks and other accidental mechanical reasons.
The county did not lease the two Canadian ``Super Scooper'' firefighting aircraft like it did last year.
Cal Fire has posted two air tankers at the airport in Ramona, and two more in Hemet in Riverside County that can be sent south if necessary.
