Gains From Spring Rains Becoming Fuel For Summer Flames

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – As we move into triple-digit temperatures, the growth after spring rains has become potential fuel for fire.

"The grass is already starting to dry out, especially down in the valley areas," said Daniel Berlant, spokesperson for CalFire. "Up in the foothills, the brush is drying out very quickly."

A wildfire can spread across acres within minutes. In 2016 so far, the state has seen 1,284 fires in just five months on nearly 12,000 acres. The average over the last 5 years is 1,282 and that was without all of the recent rain.

For us, the amount of water content in the vegetation is really going to play a major factor in how quickly a fire is able to spread and how many resources we're going to need to send to it," Berlant said.

Fire officials throughout California travel to different parts of the state to check on just how much moisture is the grass, in the brush and in the trees.

"Taking this small little sample of branch, after trimming it off of a brush or taking the branch, we would put it on a little scale and weigh it," he said. "That lets us know how much moisture is inside the plants."

Then, they place the branch in the oven and weigh it again.

"We base all of our staffing levels, we base our responses all on how much water content and fuel moisture is in the plants," Berlant said.

But even green grass and brush with moisture eventually becomes fire fuel. It only takes one hour for grass to lose its moisture, 10 hours for brush to lose its moisture and 100 hours for trees to do the same. Still, even on a hot, dry and windy day, there's something you can do to stop a fire from sparking.

"Those factors make it very dangerous to use powered equipment outdoors after 10am," Berlant said.