As Los Angeles County faces ongoing red flag wind warnings and continues to fight the Palisades and Eaton fires, San Luis Obispo County firefighters remain on alert during a time that’s typically storm season.
According to Cal Fire’s website, as of Jan. 22 the LA fires have killed 28 people, burned more than 37,000 acres of land, and destroyed more than 16,000 structures since Jan. 7, and continue to burn—the Palisades fire was 61 percent contained and Eaton was at 91 percent.
Less than 200 miles north of the LA fires, Atascadero Fire Battalion Chief Matthew Miranda told New Times that this is a season when firefighters are ready for rain events.
“Most fire departments are always very keen on what’s happening with the weather, probably a week to maybe half a week out from these big things,” he said. “You know, unfortunately, January, February, March, is usually storm season, and we’re getting a read on all those different things and making sure we’re prepared for those. But this was obviously a dramatically different series of events that came this direction.”
With recent red flag wind warnings in SLO County, Miranda said that an LA-scale fire happening in SLO is possible, but not as likely.
“Yes, we do have Santa Ana winds, or what we would call that as far as an east wind, a wind that comes from the land instead of the ocean,” he said. “We do have those events, but we do not experience them anywhere close to the same degree that Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties do.”
Miranda said that because of SLO’s topography and mountain ranges, Santa Ana winds are less pressurized and don’t reach the same speeds as they would farther south, making potential conditions less extreme in SLO.
In SLO, Santa Ana winds may reach 20 to 30 miles per hour, Miranda said, “So yes, we do experience them. But, I mean, … not the 70, 80, 100 mile an hour range that they saw.”
There was no way LA firefighters could have prepared for such an event, he added.
“I think it was unprecedented conditions,” he said. “Anytime that there’s that much wind and ignition occurs, then it’s a recipe for disaster. So, I mean, I can’t really speak to all the different things that occurred as far as their preparation or pre-position of resources, but it’s all about when the ignition happens.”
What the LA fires have shown SLO County firefighters is that the fire season is getting longer and can happen at any time regardless of rainfall, Miranda said.
If SLO has a wet winter, Miranda said that means there’s more grass to burn in the summer. If there’s a drought, dry bushes and trees are more ignitable.
“So, it doesn’t matter what the weather really does in California, we always have the potential of having a significant fire season,” he said. “It definitely always has the recipe and the components to be able to have a major event. It’s just a matter of where and when.”
But Miranda said what’s transpired in LA is a good reminder to be prepared for the worst and develop an evacuation plan.
“You don’t want to think about these things when the emergency is imminent. We want them to be proactive and think about them in quiet times, like right now,” he said. “They may think that a big fire could never happen in this little community. Well, maybe it could. And if it does, then what are you going to do about it?” Δ
This article appears in Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2025.