North San Juan Fire Protection District firefighters shoot foam at a practice firebreak Wednesday at Jackass Flats. (Photo Courtesy of Boyd Johnson )

Ask a firefighter what kind of fire season awaits, and you're likely to get a shrug, a grin and a remark that every fire season has the potential to be a bad one.

Heat, dryness, rainfall, wind, lightning and human behavior are all factors, and there's no way to forecast how they will meld.

"Ask me in November, and I'll tell you what fire season was like because it's really predicting the weather," said Battalion Chief Frank Rowe of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

But there are signs of a grim fire season ahead and, like every year, crews are bracing for the worst. Fuel moistures are low, temperatures are already into the 90s, and officials say more rain is essential.

Rainfall in both Grass Valley and Nevada City is down more than 20 inches, compared to last year. Grass Valley has 31.6 inches so far, Nevada City 40.7. Last year at this time, the numbers were 54.5 and 63.4, respectively. The averages are 49 and 56.1.

"It's what, May 10? I know of three fires working in Northern California today. That's a bit unusual," Nevada County Consolidated Fire Chief Tim Fike said Thursday.

He was referring to a Truckee-area fire, another near Loyalton in Tahoe National Forest and a third in Klamath National Forest near Oregon.

The Klamath fire has claimed timber, but spring fires usually burn brush and other smaller vegetation.

"That's usually a fire that doesn't burn until August or September," Fike said. "There's no doubt that the lack of rain will have an impact."

Ann Westling, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman in Nevada City, said the conditions are the hottest and driest she's seen in mid-May in her 20 years with the agency.

A Forest Service crew from its White Cloud Station, east of Nevada City, was sent to the Klamath fire Wednesday.

Consolidated crews have been training by carrying and laying hoses.

Next week, Wildfire Awareness Week, CDF will have at least one engine at its seasonal stations starting Monday, and all stations will have two engines by June 11. The agency's air attack crew should be ready by June 15, Rowe said.

On Wednesday, North San Juan Fire Protection District firefighters practiced shooting foam to create a firebreak along Jackass Flats Road off Tyler Foote Road.

North San Juan Chief Boyd Johnson, too, stopped short of predicting the fire season. Early dryness could lengthen fire season, but it doesn't mean more severe fires.

"It's been a long time since we've had a bad fire. It's bound to happen sooner or later. I hope it's not this year," he said.

CDF advises homeowners to create defensible space by such things as keeping wood piles away from buildings and clearing their gutters and roofs.

CDF's Web site provides complete fire preparedness information at www.fire.ca.gov

The Fire Safe Council site is www.firesafecouncil.org

Also, starting May 1, burn permits available at CDF stations were required for residents to burn debris.

-- Burn days can be canceled on a day-to-day basis by the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District, which analyzes daily air quality. Friday, for example, was a no-burn day. The agency provides daily burn information at 274-7928 and 268-1023.

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