HEMET, CALIFORNIA — Years of drought have put California at risk of a serious fire season, and firefighters in Hemet, California, are training to be ready for the next big wildfire.
Record high temperatures in May led to serious wildfires near San Diego, months before the fire season is usually under way. This followed nearly three years of drought and the driest year on record in 2013.
The drought left the brush tinder-dry, said Captain Richard Cordova, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CAL FIRE.
“When we have higher temperatures, lower humidity and you throw winds in there, it is just a recipe for extreme fire danger," he said
