SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. —
The recent heat across San Diego County comes with the threat of brush fires that have broken out across California.
While other parts of the state are battling massive fires, so far San Diego has been spared but that could change in an instant.
A video that would terrify almost any nearby homeowner was captured in Northern California this weekend showing a brushfire twisting and turning into what’s known as a “firenado.” The video was taken Saturday during the Loyalton Fire in Lassen County, California.
"We’ve seen them, of varying sizes, on a lot of fires. It’s not something that’s new to us in the industry,” said Cal Fire San Diego Captain Issac Sanchez.
Sanchez said while San Diego County so far has been spared this year beyond smaller brush fires, that hasn’t been the case in other parts of California.
"We’ve been fortunate in the county this year as far as being able to dodge the large destructive fires,” he said.
Sanchez said there are three things that drive fire behavior: “fuel, weather, and topography.”
Conditions lately have been ripe for that possibility.
"For the next week we’re definitely going to have the weather that is receptive to large fires,” Sanchez said.
It’s no secret wildfires are raging longer and more violently than ever before and that means fire-tornadoes have been too.
"What is new is the size and severity of them,” Sanchez said.
Seen in the video above, in July of 2018, one burst into the air as firefighters battled the Carr Fire just outside Redding, California.
As the Lake Fire continued as of Sunday to burn just north of Los Angeles torching nearly 18,000 acres, San Diego fire crews were being dispatched to help.
But Sanchez said San Diego County is never left unprotected.
“We never give more resources than we can afford to give,” he said. “ We always have to maintain our initial attack capabilities.”