Increased concerns for fire weather this week

This week, October 6-12th, is Fire Prevention Week. The Riverside County Fire Department is holding an open house at fire stations in the Coachella Valley providing an opportunity for residents to mix with firefighters and learn safety tips. To find where the next open house will be this week, you can visit rvcfire.org.

The Fire Weather Watch issued by the National Weather Service has been upgraded to a Red Flag Warning for portions of the Coachella Valley beginning Thursday at 3 a.m. and lasting through Friday. Wind gusts could reach up to 70 mph with dry conditions. Humidity is expected to be 5%-10% for the afternoon hours. If a fire starts it could very rapidly spread.
As a precaution, Southern California Edison (SCE) is under Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) consideration for Desert Hot Springs and other Riverside County regions. To see if your city is on the list visit: https://www.sce.com/safety/wildfire/psps

Southern California Edison states, “When there are potentially dangerous weather conditions in fire-prone areas, we may need to call a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event. During these events, we will proactively turn off power in high fire risk areas to reduce the threat of wildfires. Turning off our customers’ power is not something we take lightly, but PSPS events are one of the ways we can better ensure the safety of the public, our customers, and our employees.”

KESQ