Fire Weather Watch issued for parts of north Solano County
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Fire Weather Watch issued for parts of north Solano County
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
Update, Wednesday at 11 a.m.: The National Weather Service has upgraded the Fire Weather Watch to a Red Flag Warning. Read the latest update by clicking or tapping here. The original story follows below…
The National Weather Service office in Sacramento has issued a Fire Weather Watch for large parts of the Sacramento Valley, including a portion of Solano County.
The watch includes the cities of Vacaville and Dixon, and rural areas surrounding those communities. It starts Wednesday evening at 11 p.m. and lasts through Thursday evening.
Forecasters say wind from the north could gust in excess of 30 miles per hour. That, combined with low daytime humidity, can cause any fires that start to spread quickly through the area.
The largest threat will be seen west of Interstate 5 in the Sacramento Valley, including communities in Solano County that are covered by the warning. Western parts of Yolo County, including Winters and Esparto, are also covered by the alert.
If forecasters expect conditions to remain the same or worsen, the Fire Weather Watch could be upgraded to a Red Flag Warning.
What to do during a Fire Weather Watch or Red Flag Warning
Residents and businesses should take several steps to ensure they are protected before a significant wildfire event.
Forecasters say residents and businesses should generally avoid mowing lawns or doing other kinds of landscape maintenance, especially with high-power outdoor machinery, as sparks from those machines could start vegetation fires that balloon during watch and warning periods.
Drivers should never dispose of cigarettes or cigarette butts by throwing them out the window of a vehicle, but they should work especially hard to avoid this behavior, because even cigarette butts that are believed to be extinguished could still ignite dry vegetation along the road. (Drivers who are connected to these fires could be fined or, in some cases, criminally charged.)
Camp fires and bonfires should be watched carefully, and all fires should be extinguished fully. Outdoor burning is not recommended, and local regulations could even prohibit them, even with no fire-related watch or warning in place.
Should a vegetation fire or wildfire start, residents and businesses should monitor local authorities and the news media for reliable information, including evacuation notices.
County-related emergency notifications are available by phone call, text message and e-mail through Alert Solano, which requires free registration. Monitor reliable local media outlets like Solano NewsNet for up-to-the-minute information on emergency situations.
Will the power go out during this Fire Weather Watch?
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has issued warnings of a planned safety power shutoff (PSPS) event impacting some residential and business customers in the Sacramento Valley due to the ongoing threat brought on by fire weather.
PG&E says some customers in Colusa, Lake, Napa and Yolo counties may temporarily lose electrical service on Thursday due to upcoming wildfire threats from anticipated high wind and dry conditions.
In Yolo County, around 10 customers north of Highway 16 between Capay and Brooks could lose electrical service starting Thursday at 5 a.m. Service is expected to be restored by 6 p.m., but could be turned on earlier, depending on weather conditions.
No PSPS events are forecasted for Solano County.