In the Oakland and Berkeley Hills, fire crews increased the fire risk alerts and brought out big equipment to take down trees and brush that could impede firefighters during a wildfire. Higher temperatures and winds are expected later in the week, prompting preparations.

San Francisco

Bay Area fire departments are intensifying their wildfire preparedness in response to increased fire danger due to higher temperatures and winds. Crews are conducting fire mitigation activities such as thinning trees and removing dry grass, particularly in the East Bay Hills, to reduce fuel loads and improve evacuation routes. 

Officials highlight the importance of defensible space around homes and encourage residents to have evacuation kits and communication plans ready. The efforts are supported by CAL FIRE and include expanded use of technology for evacuation alerts. Recent fires in the region and across California have prompted these proactive measures, with additional mitigation projects planned for several canyons in the area.

Bay Area Fire Departments prepare for increased fire risk this week

wildfires burning around the state. Bay Area fire departments are taking steps today to prepare for higher temperatures and winds this week. KTVU's Jana Katsuyama joins us live from Berkeley Fire Station Seven in the East Bay Hills with details. Jana. Claudine, we were here when they raised the fire danger rating from low to medium up to high today. And anywhere you go, what's deceptive is it feels cool, there's a nice breeze, but everywhere you look, there is dry grass fuels that could start a fire and they are up in the hills today trying to do some fire mitigation. They say that this is very important given the conditions coming ahead. Giant branches turned to wood chips. Crews were working for East Bay Regional Parks Monday, pulling out the big machinery for fire mitigation efforts along Grizzly Peak Boulevard, high in the hills above Oakland. We're thinning and removing trees, reducing the fuel loading along Grizzly Peak Boulevard in order to assist and improve the evacuation route as well as to be able to prevent fire starts. The project partnering with CAL FIRE is critical as the state and local jurisdictions respond to fires and try to prevent future ones. The fire department grazes about 900 acres throughout the East Bay Hills with goats. Our cattle grazing program does about 89,000 acres. In the Bay Area, a vehicle fire spread to dry grass and burnt nearly 20 acres in Castro Valley off Eden Canyon Road Sunday night. We're surrounded by a lot of dry grass, especially around the Altamont Pass. What we get is it heats up during the afternoon hours and then we get these afternoon winds and it's very easy for a fire to kick off. Alameda County Fire Division Chief Heather Marquez says after a relatively cool summer so far, there is still a high risk of fire. California's a wild place and things can turn on a dime. We've got assets out across the state of California right now. We've already served in Shasta, Humboldt, Siskiyou County. We've right now got firefighters down working on the Gifford Fire in Santa Maria area. CAL FIRE crews continue battling a fire in Lake County and in Southern California. The Gifford Fire has burned more than 65,000 acres, pulling resources from across the state and making use of new aerial assets that the state added this summer to help fire crews on the ground. Fire officials say what is most important is for people to make sure they're prepared with defensible space around their homes, being extra careful not to cause sparks from dragging chains, yard equipment, barbecues, campfires, or cigarettes. Always making sure they have their go bag and their evacuation kits ready, making sure they have a comms plan, a communication plan with their children and the rest of their family for where they might need to meet up. And one more piece of advice that the division chief said, she said, make sure that if you have a phone, download the app, either Watch Duty, they use Genesis as well. Those are very valuable, she says, because you can sign up for evacuation alerts and stay on top of situations every minute, they say, counts. Claudine? Yeah, that technology really helps. I get a lot of alerts on my phones these days. You know, I know you're in the Berkeley Hills, the Oakland Hills as well. When you take down those big trees, and I know you've been seeing that, that really can be very helpful for fire danger. Are they planning any more projects like that? They say, thanks to some grants from CAL FIRE, and we've been hearing about how the state is trying to step up with wildfire prevention, they're also gonna be looking at Claremont Canyon, Chabot and Wildcat Canyons to do more mitigation efforts. And they say, one more thing, Claudine, you reminded me of, if you get an evacuation alert, you're gonna be able to go back to work. And one more thing you reminded me of, if you get an evacuation order, they say, go, because if you don't go, they need to have those routes to get their equipment in and also run their fire lines to the fire hydrants. So, something really important to remember as we continue into the summer. Yeah, those roads are narrow, hard to get in and out of there. All right, thanks, Jana. Well, Cruz,

The Prime Minister's Office said to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir that, "If this does not suit him, you should resign."

Jerusalem

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Geneva

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Moscow

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Washington

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Ukraine Invasion

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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Rome

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Israeli hostage families protest in Tel Aviv

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Bryan

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Breakdown