Officials urge caution in urban Valley areas at risk of wildfires

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Wildfires in Southern California continue to extend beyond traditional fire hazard zones and into urban areas Thursday, threatening thousands and posing unique challenges.

"We also have it up against the wildland-urban interface. And so they tend to be areas that are difficult for the fire department to get to navigate on foot," Tammy Nichols Schwartz said.

She analyzes data for Guidewire HazardHub and created a map of the wildfire risk throughout California.

"Know where your zones are, and know where those risks are, know how far away you are," Schwartz said.

Data from the climate risk company First Street shows nearly all of Fresno and Clovis are surrounded by some form of wildfire risk this year alone.

Chad Fitzgerald at the Clovis Fire Department says the threat is much worse for foothill communities.

"When you start getting to hillier areas...When you start getting into areas that go from grasses to bushes and then to trees, that changes the fuel type and the fire load that could potentially present a danger to a property around it," Fitzgerald said.

First Street projects the fire risk in Fresno County will only worsen over the next 15 years. But Fitzgerald says terrain and vegetation in Southern California make it more prone to flames.

"There is a substantive difference between what we see here on the Valley floor versus what some of our neighbors are experiencing in the south," he said.

Still, officials are urging homeowners everywhere to take simple precautions.

"If you're within five miles of an area that has had a wildfire, then I think it's your responsibility to mitigate and make sure that sparks aren't going to be able to enter your vents or your attic," Schwartz said.

"Most of the properties that are burned are burned because of embers, and they're burned from the inside out."

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