5 days Ago By Rob Hayes
CAMARILLO, Calif. (KABC) -- Just as the Mountain Fire winds down with 98% containment, fire officials are warning about the next stage of danger for residents inside the burn zone: debris flows. Rain is in the weekend forecast and the Ventura County Fire Department is asking residents in possible slide areas to start preparing now.
"Sandbags and sand are available at all our fire stations," said Andrew Dowd, public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department. "We just always encourage residents to be prepared and to understand the risks and do everything they can to help mitigate them." How will the Northern California bomb cyclone storm impact SoCal? The National Weather Service is investigating the vulnerabilities caused by the Mountain Fire and believes the odds are low that the upcoming storm system will cause significant impacts.
But forecasters add there are no guarantees. "Weather is not a perfect science," said Ariel Cohen with the NWS. "There are a couple scenarios out there that do suggest a possibility of higher impact, but right now it's too far out in the forecast to really say with any degree of confidence that they're going to come to fruition.
" The Mountain Fire scorched just under 20,000 acres and destroyed 243 structures. Firefighters made at least 136 active rescues. Information on post-Mountain Fire recovery efforts is available here at Ventura County Recovers.
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