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Whew! Rain eases Santa Barbara County out of high wildfire season

The 1300 acre Hill Fire burning in eastern Santa Barbara County last May.
Santa Barbara County Fire Dept.
The 1300 acre Hill Fire burning in eastern Santa Barbara County last May.

Ventura County is still in high fire season and hasn't dropped to winter preparedness levels yet.

Santa Barbara County has declared an end to high fire season. The recent rainfall reduced the brush fire risk in the region.

The change means with the reduced danger, in most cases firefighters won’t need to send out extra resources during initial calls. During high fire season, extra staffing is added so if there is a wildfire, crews can try to knock down a little fire before it can mushroom in size.

People with permits for burn piles can also conduct burns on permissive burn days. However, the burning of standing vegetation can only be conducted by fire departments.

Ventura County hasn’t announced plans yet to transition from its high fire season to winter preparedness levels.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.