California Preps for Fire Season

WINDSOR, Calif—Grass and other vegetation have begun to cover the ash left behind when the largest blaze of the 2019 wildfire season burned the edge of this Northern California town about four months ago.

【小题1】 Unlike in other dangerous California blazes, including 2018's Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, first responders were able to focus entirely on the firefight rather than last-minute rescues.

“It's not an accident that Windsor got saved,” Mayor Dominic Foppoli said. “We went through 2017. We watched it happen again in Paradise.”

【小题2】 The state's wet winter months have become a critical time for officials and residents hoping to protect themselves from a fire season that starts earlier and ends later than ever Some are organizing mass-evacuation drills and hosting events to help businesses and residents design emergency plans. 【小题3】 In Northern California, the communities of Orinda, Moraga and Lafayette banded together to build a 19-mile fuel break meant to slow a disastrous blaze from spreading into neighborhoods from nearby hills.

Forecasters expect warmer and drier weather in California heading into spring, which could cause grasses to dry out and lead to an earlier than normal start to this year's fire season.【小题4】

"We have indicators that we're drying out already," said Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.