There is already concern among the firefighting community that this may be a very long and difficult fire season. In order to prevent disaster, California's fire and forestry officials plan to inspect some 2,000 Bay Area homes for fire danger. They say they're doing this in order to prevent another situation like in the early 90s when fire all by destroyed the Oakland Hills area.
Firefighters say homeowners in high-risk fire areas of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will be targeted for the inspections this spring. They specifically want homeowners to cut back vegetation by 100 feet. Firefighters say that's the amount of space the fire crews need to possibly save your home in a wildlife emergency.
Governor Schwarzenegger is also concerned about the upcoming fire season. He issued an executive order on Friday to give the green light to the state to mobilize resources and hire fire personnel. This comes a month earlier compared to hiring that took place last year. With this week's warm-up, firefighters say it gives them all the more reason for people to take a close look at the vegetation around their homes.
