GALT, CA (MPG) - On the night of July 4, Cosumnes Fire Department responded to a small grass fire on Whitelock Parkway in south Elk Grove. It had been started by people watching the fireworks display at Elk Grove Regional Park, Assistant Fire Chief Lantz Rey told Messenger Publishing Group; on a night when the department is bombarded with calls, the responding fire crew decided to handle other pressing issues first.

Rey volunteered to monitor the fire, waiting about 10 minutes until a crew was able to come and extinguish the blaze. Rey said in an interview that, if the fire had become a major threat, the department could have addressed it immediately. But the anecdote is an example of the “strain” the agency feels in midsummer. Grass fires become more common, and people light barbecues or set off fireworks near their homes.

If Cosumnes Fire’s units are already fighting fires when a new fire report comes in, neighboring agencies can pick up the slack. 

But Rey explained that those agencies are also busy at this time of year.

Increased fire activity “puts a lot of strain on the system,” Rey said, later adding, “You start getting into a situation where you have smaller fires that are contained that don’t get a fire engine right away.”

The Sacramento area experienced triple-digit high temperatures on eight of the first 10 days of July, and the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office predicted “elevated fire weather conditions.”

“This year, we had abnormally high heat throughout the period of Fourth of July and beforehand,” Rey said. “And so when that happens, basically, everything is drier. So any fire that starts is going to expand faster. … We saw fire above what we had last year. We had more of them. And we saw that those fires were growing at a rate faster than even in a normal Fourth of July.”

Rey shared tips for preventing common causes of summer fires in homes and in grassy areas.

House Fires

— Give barbecues some space: Rey said that residents like to set up their grills under a patio cover or in the shade of the house, but that can allow smoke and embers into the house “and you have a fire a couple hours after you are cooking.” He advised keeping barbecues at least 10 feet from buildings.

— Fix the air conditioner: If your AC repeatedly trips the breaker, that could mean that the electrical system is overheating. Rey said it needs to be repaired, not just reset. “Don’t ignore it; take an action, figure out what’s going on there,” Rey added. “Get that system fixed; get it looked at by a licensed professional.”

Grass Fires

— Mow grass early in the season: “When the weather’s a little bit cooler, you want to cut that (grass) down pretty low, so below four inches, because even if you have a fire that starts, it’s not going to expand rapidly. There’s just not going to be a fuel source for it to move quickly,” Rey said.

— Be careful when mowing during extreme heat days: If cutting grass in high temperatures, keep a fire extinguisher on hand. Cut the grass with a plastic blade, such as a string trimmer, instead of a metal-bladed lawnmower. And do it early in the morning.

— Create defensible space: “You want to cut around your property line away from roadways and any of your buildings; create firebreaks on larger parcels,” Rey said. “And then for the folks that live in your typical single-family residential subdivisions, it’s best to keep your grass alive and cut it down so it’s not large.” 

Rey also cautioned against storing a large amount of items in the yard, since it could ignite and allow a fire to spread into a house.