Dangerous Brush Fire Season Feared : Storms: Dense vegetation resulting from wet winter will present extra risks when it dries out, officials said.

SANTA CLARITA — Brush fire season could be long and especially dangerous this year because of heavy winter storms and late spring rains that produced dense vegetation, fire officials said Wednesday, the official start of the season.

Late-season storms have kept the danger minimal so far, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Michael Freeman, but ultimately will have a more adverse impact.

“On the positive side, the moisture is up in the brush right now,” Freeman said. “That’s good because it’s not hazardous until it dries out.”

The bad news is that much of the brush will indeed dry out in the late summer and fall, when warm Santa Ana winds multiply the danger of wildfires, Freeman said. Similar conditions were created by heavy rains in 1993, which led to wildfires across the Southland that scorched tens of thousands of acres and destroyed hundreds of homes. And in 1993, the grass was not abundant.

“The fall’s going to be a time of real concern,” he said.

The abundance of grass along roads and near homes “can create a wick for a bigger area of brush,” Freeman added.

Last year, which was relatively dry, the county Fire Department responded to about 1,900 brush fires, most of which firefighters were able to contain without serious damage, officials said.

Firefighters from Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and Santa Barbara counties participated Wednesday in a news conference in the hills just northwest of Santa Clarita to discuss preparations for the fire season. Speakers emphasized the value of cooperation between the firefighting agencies in sharing helicopters and other equipment during emergencies.

“No individual agency is going to be able to meet the needs of the devastating fires we had in 1993,” said James Sewell, captain of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Also Wednesday, crews of firefighters and supervised state inmates spent the day igniting and then extinguishing fires as part of a 350-acre prescribed burn to destroy some of the brush in the area. The burn was also a training exercise for both new and experienced crews.

“A lot of those crews are urban firefighters and it’s good to get them up here and see how these things burn,” Freeman said.

Tom Little, a firefighter specialist for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said the controlled burns will continue throughout the county for the next few weeks, until higher winds and low plant moisture make them too risky.

“We don’t want the fire to get away from us,” he said.

Fire prevention tips for residents were also emphasized at the press conference. Freeman said all flammable vegetation should be cut to two inches high or less within 30 feet of homes, fences and other structures. He said all vegetation within 100 feet of structures should be trimmed to 18 inches high or less.