When walking down a trail or through some of Orange County’s protected open space areas, hikers and bird watchers might encounter an individual in a neon green vest with a ham radio and binoculars scanning the horizon.
These are Orange County Fire Watch volunteers — and one of their biggest priorities is making sure they’re visible to people passing by.
The OC Fire Watch is a volunteer-based program, managed by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, that aims to prevent human-caused wildfires through education, early reporting and deterring any dangerous behaviors that could spark a fire.
There are 35 different locations across the county, mostly near parks and trails, where these highly-trained volunteers are deployed on “Red Flag” warning days. This is determined by the National Weather Service when warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds pose a high risk of fire danger.
Volunteers are also deployed upon request or on certain days like the Fourth of July, when wildfire risks increase. They’re looking for signs of fire — like smoke or embers — or any unusual activity that could create a spark.
Fire Watch volunteers like Ray Hutchinson, a retired OC Fire Authority firefighter, are usually stationed at trailheads where they can be easily seen by members of the public passing through.
“I like to make it as simple as possible, and it’s called ‘see and be seen,’” Hutchinson said. “We want to be very visible. We aren’t hiding looking to catch somebody starting a fire. We’d much rather prevent them from starting a fire just by showing someone’s out there looking.”
Hutchinson said he always makes sure to educate the public about protecting wildlands from flames.
“When they come by, typically they’ll say, ‘Why are you here? What are you doing?’” he said. “And so we give them a brief spiel that it’s a really high fire danger today — please be careful. No smoking on the trails. Have a good hike.”
Hutchinson also runs a weekly training program to help new volunteers learn to use ham radios — also known as amateur radios.
This training is especially useful in open space areas that lack cell service, helping volunteers communicate quickly in the event of a fire or other emergency. Out of the 300 volunteers in the program, around 50 are licensed to use a ham radio.
“Program managers try to put the amateur radio operators in known, difficult cell areas,” Hutchinson said. “Black Star Canyon is a notable one. It’s very difficult, depending on the system you’re on, to get a cell signal.”
The Irvine Ranch Conservancy — which oversees the Fire Watch program in partnership with OC Parks and OCFA — is a nonprofit conservation organization that manages over 30,000 acres of public open space in Orange County.
Madison Killebrew, a fire prevention program manager with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, emphasized that volunteers aren’t first responders and their safety is paramount when out in the field.
“We always tell our volunteers, as soon as you see the fire, if a fire breaks out, that’s when your job is done,” Killebrew said. “We’re not going to have them risk their safety and go out and try to address anything as soon as they spot something. That’s their time to evacuate the area.”
Killebrew said their organization also sometimes helps to clean up vegetation that has a high risk of igniting.
Some invasive plants in the county pose an increased risk of catching fire, especially when the plants dry out following a particularly wet winter, leaving dry brush to fuel flames — Killebrew said that’s exactly what Orange County is experiencing now.
“Here in Orange County, we just came off of two really wet years, so fire hasn’t really been on people’s minds as much as it was in 2020 when we had one of our worst fire seasons,” Killebrew said.
“But the thing is, in the past two years, all of the rain has brought so much more growth,” she said. “Here in Southern California, we have around a two-year cycle of two really wet years and then a couple drier years. We’re restarting that cycle of the drier year.”
[Read: Fire Season Begins in Orange County]
Flames broke out in south OC earlier this year when the Airport Fire began near Trabuco Canyon.
The fire burned 23,526 acres, largely in Riverside County as the flames traveled away from Orange County.
[Read: OC’s Airport Fire Continues Into Riverside County as Containment Begins]
But when the wildfire began on Sept. 9, Fire Watch volunteers weren’t stationed since the weather conditions didn’t warrant a deployment. Hutchinson said volunteers also weren’t deployed when the Silverado and Blue Ridge Fires began in 2020.
“The notable thing missing from the Airport Fire was the Santa Ana winds, right?” Hutchinson said. “In fact, all three of those [fires] did not have strong Santa Ana conditions that generate a Red Flag.”
“I hope Fire Watch and some other agencies rethink to not be so totally dependent on the need for a Red Flag declaration before they start taking more action,” he said.
Kris Cutting, another Fire Watch volunteer, said he values doing his part to protect Orange County’s nature and infrastructure from flames.
“We can’t necessarily prevent all fires, but if I can at least do a little bit just to help reduce those fires and help reduce the costs that come along with those fires, maybe by seeing smoke and reporting it sooner than later so that fire personnel and first responders can get out and do what they do, to me that’s what it’s all about,” Cutting said.
OC residents interested in getting involved with Fire Watch must register with OC Parks or the Irvine Ranch Conservancy and attend a few different training orientations and workshops. New volunteers must also complete a background check and first aid training, among other requirements.
For more information about how to get involved with OC Fire Watch, click here.
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.