Governor Newsom sends extra firefighting teams as Southern California faces high fire risk

At the direction of Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has approved the predeployment of additional firefighting resources to several Southern California counties. The action comes in response to forecasts predicting elevated heat and critical fire weather conditions expected from Wednesday through Sunday.

Resources are being sent to Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Bernardino Counties. This follows an earlier deployment of resources to Los Angeles County earlier in the day.

“We continue to predeploy resources to Southern California ahead of dangerous fire weather conditions later this week. Now is the time to prepare, California: check your local forecasts, sign up for alerts, and make a go bag,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

The assets include 32 fire engines, nine water tenders, nine bulldozers, five helicopters, nine hand crews, 13 dispatchers, and two Incident Management Teams distributed across the five counties. According to Cal OES officials, having these resources ready allows for quicker response times and can help contain fires before they grow into major incidents.

Authorities are urging residents in affected areas to remain alert during this period of increased risk. Californians are encouraged to develop a wildfire action plan that includes evacuation routes and assembling a go-bag with necessary supplies. Residents should also sign up for local emergency alerts and consult CalHeatScore.CalEPA.ca.gov for area-specific heat safety information. Additional preparedness guidance is available at Ready.ca.gov.