As Southern California prepares for strong Santa Ana winds and critical fire weather conditions, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) will preposition firefighting resources in Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties, ensuring resources are ready to respond quickly to new fires and protect communities.
Prepositioned resources will begin deploying Thursday morning, October 15 through Sunday, October 18.
The approved resources include:
Ventura County
- 5 fire engines
- 2 bulldozers
- 1 water tender
- 1 hand crew
- 1 helicopter
- 50 firefighters and support personnel.
Orange County
- 5 fire engines
- 1 bulldozer
- 1 water tender
- 1 hand crew
- 1 helicopter
- 45 firefighters and support personnel.
Los Angeles City and County
- 10 fire engines
- 2 bulldozers
- 2 water tenders
- 2 hand crews
- 2 helicopters
- 85 firefighters and support personnel.
Santa Barbara County
- 1 helicopter
- 4 firefighters and support personnel.
Prepositioning resources allows Cal OES to work alongside local fire agencies to strategically stage firefighting assets in areas where wildfire risk is expected to increase, improving response times and helping local agencies contain fires before they become large incidents. The staging locations and response assignments of these resources are at the direction of local fire officials.
Californians Can Help Reduce Wildfire Risk
Residents, including those in red flag warning areas, are encouraged to remain vigilant and take steps to prevent wildfire ignitions:
- Prepare a wildfire action plan, including planning evacuation routes.
- Avoid activities that can create sparks, especially during the hottest and windiest parts of the day.
- Sign up for local emergency alerts to stay informed about changing conditions.
- For more information on fire safety and general preparedness, ready.ca.gov.