FIRE SEASON STARTS EARLY DRY WINTER, HIGH WINDS WHIP UP DANGER.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - With just seven inches of rain so far this season in Santa Clarita, record high temperatures and this weekend's gusty winds, the fire danger is unseasonably high.

A red flag warning - indicating an extremely high fire danger - has been called through the weekend, the first in March in several years, said Operations Chief Kerry Elite of the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

``It's very unseasonable, but the danger is there because of the lack of rainfall in Southern California - the lowest rainfall in decades,'' Elite said.

``That, coupled with strong wind conditions of 40 mph-plus and relative humidity dropping into single digits, that's created a fuel condition and fire danger that's really characteristic of July or August.''

On Friday, the state forestry department transferred 15 fire engines from Northern to Southern California, deploying five of those in Los Angeles County with one at Newhall's Station 73.

Firefighting teams are patrolling the foothills to guard against fire hazards - both accidental and deliberate.

``We're really concerned about arson,'' Elite said. ``Typically, we experience high levels of arson incidents in these types of conditions.''

The department's red flag warning prompted the state to suspend all burn permits in its jurisdiction, including camp fires in state parks, Elite said. The same is true for national forests.

Officials also urged off-road riders to make sure they have effective spark arresters on their vehicles to guard against igniting the brush in recreational areas.

Santa Clarita, Chatsworth and Calabasas, where neighborhoods meet forested areas, are of particular concern, said county fire Battalion Chief Michael Singer.

Brush clearance programs are the best bet against devastating losses, Singer said, noting the homes that were saved last year in wildfires that raged across Castaic and Saugus.

``Most people have been complying with the brush clearance, but it only takes one house,'' Jordan added.

The wind forecast through Sunday afternoon, with gusts in the canyons up to 80 mph, create an additional problem for firefighters. It could hamper the use of aircraft to fight fires, and fire retardants dropped from the air don't hit their targets in the wind, Elite said.

This February is among the seven driest since the weather service began keeping records in 1877, Hoffer said. Santa Clarita, which averages about 20 inches of rain a year, has had barely seven inches.

And even if storm upon storm hits the Southland this final month of winter, it is too late to prevent an early - and volatile - fire season because a lack of rainfall and a February heat wave have left brush too dry to absorb any moisture.

``We can have an inch of rain tomorrow, but with the winds we're having and with the rainfall so low all winter, we can be right back in the red flag warning the next day,'' Capt. Brian Jordan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said Friday.

The fire danger will only worsen as summer approaches, Jordan said.

``We can definitely project that it will get worse than now with sustained weeks of high temperatures and low rainfall,'' he said.

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(color) State forestry department firefighters park their trucks Friday at county Station 73 in Newhall, augmenting local crews to meet the increased risk of brush blazes in Southern California.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News