 Coming up. Fires are moving faster than they have in the past. With the most dangerous and hottest months of summer still to come, 2018 is already blazing through California. You have to listen to alert and warnings, heed those warnings, get out of harm's way. Are you ready? California can't be successful though without it. The role you play in wildfire readiness coming up on this edition of Inside Look. I'm Brian May in the Cal OES Newsroom. Thanks for joining us. Fire officials are quick to point out there really is no fire season in California anymore. It is a year round battle and it's a battle that in order to be successful relies on you. And we begin with this, that big fire burning in Yolo County just keeps growing. It's now spread to 60,000 acres and is moving toward Lake Berryessa in Napa County. 2018 is already shaping up to be another one for the record books. Already this year, there have been over 3,000 responses to wildfires in California and that's up more than 250 from this time last year. And in a one week period, the week of July 4th, there were over 300 responses to new wildfires in just one week. California, of course, is a disaster prone state. It's not just wildfire. We have earthquakes and floods and all different kinds of things. So we can't drop the ball and not keep our eye on all the different hazards that exist in California. While fire crews continue to work around the clock to keep you safe, they do ask one favor in return. Now is the time for you to clear your vegetation to ensure you've met all your requirements for defensible space. Right now, it's just 5% contained. There are mandatory evacuations for several areas north of Highway 128. The new normal in California are devastating fire seasons and, you know, there's a finite amount of resources there. There's just this we must depend on everyone in the state to be ready. And that's neighbor helping neighbor. That's, you know, when it comes to early warning, that means neighbors sharing information with neighbors, you know, ensuring everyone gets out. You just can't dial 911. When you have a major disaster, you're gonna get all the resources there to help you. You conceivably could be on your own for a period of time. You have to listen to alert and warnings, heed those warnings, get out of harm's way. Have a plan. All right. Joining us now live is the Cal OES State Fire and Rescue Chief Kim Zagaris. And Chief, first of all, thanks for joining us. We just saw the numbers from 2018 on this fire season. Tell us what it looks like. I know we're up from last year and that's not really a race that we want to win. Well, unfortunately, it's been a been a busy spring and summer is already off to a hard run. And I would tell you that at least last couple weeks, going back to the start of the Pawnee fire and now on to several new fires. We've actually seen a number of structures, residences destroyed and other outbuildings. And unfortunately, at least with the Klamathon fire up and up up by Hornbrook, one fatality from it. So from my standpoint, it's not looking to be a good year. And I'm sure hope we don't repeat 2017. Chief, you have resources all over the state. What are your guys on the ground seeing as far as conditions? I know we had the drought for a long time and then last year got out of it, but the the fuels are there, aren't they? Fills are there. I mean, we again, we had good rain this year. So we've got an abundance of grass crop really throughout the state. The other part of the cycle, I would tell you is that, you know, we normally get our rain patterns and they go all winter. And we get rain over a good period of time. And we're not seeing that the way we normally do. We see, you know, those short times of a lot of rain or just enough rain. And then we don't see anything for a while. And vegetation, both our timber and our brush, they need more time to suck up that moisture much like we do when we get dehydrated. It takes a little bit of time to get that water into our system. So the fuels are much in the same situation. So the drier the fuels and the more grass crop we have, the more dangerous it ends up being for fire season and puts ultimately the public and our firefighters in danger. Chief, one of the key aspects of your job is to look ahead and know what conditions are coming up in the near future. I know it was so bad last weekend that you guys prepositioned some equipment around the state. Talk about what that entails and why you had to do that. Well, realistically, we're lucky right now is that we've been given $25 million in our budget to do mobilization for the mutual aid system. And we went ahead and staff resources in the south part of the state. And at least the holiday fire in in Santa Barbara County in around the city of Galeta really paid off extremely well. That one strike team was on the initial dispatch and was very helpful in saving some of the structures, which we wouldn't have had any losses. But anyway, it is is way things are working. But it's somewhat of a new program, although we've been prepositioning the past through a variety of means, but we actually have a line budget item, which to be able to do these right now. So we're very appreciative to both the governor and the legislature and the support we have from the California Fire Service for what we're able to do right now. The harsh reality is we are still very early in the season if there is a fire season, although it's almost year round now. So we still have a lot of danger ahead. Talk about what you need California residents to do to help you and your men and women do their job. Well, hopefully those who are live in the wildland area have already done their clearance, although realistically, we know that's not true. I would tell folks that, you know, if you live live in a wildland area, you do need to have clearance 100 feet is is is what we really need to have out there. If you haven't done it already, we would ask that if you're going to do it, we would recommend you do it that you do it in the morning hours when it's cooler, the humidity is up a little bit more. If you have anything that you're going to do clearance that may cause a spark, make sure you've got some water by hand tool nearby and in some way of calling 911. And if you have a fire that starts, please call 911 first and then and then work towards, you know, trying to put the fire up before the fire department gets there. But those are, you know, our real basic side of doing things. I would also recommend that citizens who haven't done anything check with the local fire department check with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire and and go to their websites and and look what you need to get done. And one final message, Chief, I know we want to get out is and we say this every year, if you are in an area that gets evacuation orders, just how crucial it is for people to leave that area when they're told to do so. It's extremely crucial not only for their safety, but as well as firefighters and the other emergency responders that are coming in. It provides us more access to provides us an ability to get to get in and not have to worry about those folks who haven't left the area just changes our priorities considerably if they're still in the area. The other thing I would also recommend, Brian, is that, you know, if you haven't signed up locally with the with your local emergency management agency, please do so so you can get the alerts and warnings for whether it be for wildland fire, whether it be for earthquake, whatever it is, please register. Don't wait till the till it's too late to get on board and do it now. Kim Zagara, State Fire and Rescue Chief for Cal OES Chief, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Before we go, we want to leave you with some important but very simple tips to help you be prepared and ready in case you find yourself in the path of a wildfire. First, make sure you've signed up for any community warnings from your local county, law enforcement and fire departments. Gather all of your important documents like birth certificates, passports and titles along with any family pictures and have them all together in one place. Also have your family plan and kit ready in case you get evacuated. If cell phone service is down, your plan should include where you and your family will meet if you're separated and your kit should include food, bottled water, flashlights and batteries. If you're asked to evacuate, do so. And then as soon as you can, let your family and friends know that you're safe. You can go to redcross.org and register yourself as safe and well. And that will do it for this edition of Inside Look. I'm Brian May for all of us at Cal OES. Thanks for watching. Visit our online newsroom at OESnews.com to learn more about this program and get the latest news and information from our team. Don't miss our next video on your Facebook timeline, like our page and you'll get the latest posts as they happen. If you're an Instagram user, you can see the latest snapshots by following our Cal OES Instagram account. And Twitter users can get instant access to our tweets from across the state by following Cal OES.