Fire season has come early to Southern California. The driest winter in a quarter-century is moving the official start of the fire season there up a month.
Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties begin the fire season next week. It establishes a heightened alert for extra staffing, increased public education and more equipment.
Officials say the nearly three and a-half million acres of Southern California land patrolled by state firefighters are drier than at any point since 1976, when records were first kept.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 5:28 pm