LA City, County Fire Ramp Up Operations Over Red Flag Warning
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Fire officials on Monday braced for a last gasp of summer-like heat amid a red flag warning for much of the Southland.
Record high temperatures could push temperatures into triple-digits in downtown Los Angeles — matching a daily record set in 2008 — while temps could top 90-plus degrees at the beaches, according to the National Weather Service.
KNX 1070's John Brooks reports the forecast also called for a high fire danger through Tuesday in mountains because of hot, dry weather, tinder-dry brush and possible wind gusts of 20 mph or more.
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The forecast could also mean an uncomfortably hot day throughout the San Fernando Valley, where temps in the Woodland Hills area hit 103 on Sunday, topping a record set in 2003.
City and county fire officials were anticipating wind gusts combined with the heat to pose an extreme fire danger.
"We are hiring back and adding 10 additional engines in the hillside area to patrol and to make sure that if we do get a fire, we can get an early jump on it," said L.A. City Fire Asst. Chief Robert Franco
Captain Tom Richards with L.A. County Fire told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO said the lack of humidity has left much of Southern California vulnerable to wildfires.
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"With the weather that we've had recently, everything's been drying out," said Richards. "We're concerned about every area, anything could start at any time, anywhere."
The heat was expected to ease by Tuesday evening.
