When a Red Flag Warning signals high temperatures, low humidity and strong Santa Ana winds, Orange County Fire Watch springs into action.
Within 24 hours, Renalynn Funtanilla, Fire Watch program coordinator, will call on more than 300 trained volunteers to warn residents and help watch for the first sign of wildfire.
About a third of the volunteers will take shifts at trailheads and roadsides around Orange County’s open spaces until the Red Flag Warning, issued by the National Weather Service, clears.
“Even if it’s a small two-hour window, it really makes a difference to have that coverage during Red Flag Warnings because it’s better to have more eyes and ears than none,” Funtanilla said.
Funtanilla and some of the group’s volunteers were out Wednesday, Aug. 13, on the Pacific Ridge Trail in Newport Beach, demonstrating their program before the upcoming wildfire season heats up.
Fire Watch helps monitor the more than 40,000 acres of wildland the Irvine Ranch Conservancy manages for OC Parks, Irvine and Newport Beach. The land stretches from Weir Canyon near the 91 Freeway through the canyons to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Crystal Cove State Park.
At the start of a wildfire alert, Funtanilla sends a call to volunteers and starts rolling in TVs and monitors into a conference room at her Irvine office. This will serve as the control center during the wildfire alert.
Four volunteers operate the center, monitoring virtual fire live feeds from cameras stationed across Orange County and checking in with volunteers out in the field.
Funtanilla last set up operations in January when prolonged dry conditions and Santa Ana Winds, led to wildfires that destroyed more than 13,000 homes in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
“It was a very scary thing being in the operations center seeing all the wildfires happening in LA and Eaton, and us bracing for that potentially happening here,” Funtanilla said. “Fortunately, we were able to keep an eye on any wildfires and get them reported.”
That month, Fire Watch stayed active for 13 straight days, Funtanilla’s longest deployment.
During that deployment, a volunteer spotted a car driving along wildfire-prone Santiago Canyon Road, with sparks flying from the rim of its tire, Funtanilla said. With no cell service, a ham radio was used to call a ranger, preventing a possible ignition and dangerous accident for the driver.
Many ignitions happen along roadsides, Funtanilla said. When a car pulls over on the side of the road, a hot catalytic converter or overheated brakes can touch dry vegetation and spark a wildfire.
Phil Sallaway, a volunteer for more than two years, said he never knows when he’ll be deployed, but he’s ready. He is trained in predicting how blazes will move, smoke detection and ham radio operation, which is during a wildfire event, can be the only means of communication.
“Every minute we catch that fire (early) is huge,” Sallaway said. “It’s the fires that get going and don’t get seen for a while that just really kill you. By the time (authorities) get there, they’ve spread acres and acres. The boat sailed.”
Volunteers also keep residents informed on how to be vigilant during high wildfire risk conditions.
“Sometimes the public doesn’t realize that some of the things they might be doing could contribute to a possible fire,” Sallaway said.
The Irvine Ranch Conservancy and the Orange County Fire Authority are in the beta testing phases of AI technology that could further automate the detection of wildfires with thermal and smoke sensors.
But Scott Graves, spokesperson with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, says the human element is still valuable.
“In the fight against wildfire, you want to use every tool at your disposal,” Graves said. “AI is great. Technology is wonderful, but the human brain and the human eyes are also great tools.”
Program manager Funtanilla said she is hoping to one day place volunteers in every OC open space. For more information on how to volunteer, see Letsgooutside.com.
“It’s a community issue and it takes a community response,” Funtanilla said. “We’re hoping that together we can be more proactive about wildfires rather than reactive.”
“It takes all of us working together,” she added, “to prevent this disastrous event.”