Crews clear dry brush along Highway 180 as early fire season raises concerns

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- As cars drove by the engaged road, travelers whitethorn person seen crews astatine work.

The westbound Highway 180 offramp astatine Fowler Avenue was closed Thursday day for Caltrans landscaping operations.

"We're moving diligently to marque definite that we're providing information for the motoring public," said Caltrans spokesperson Alex Aguilera.

"For us, trimming down these weeds is important because, for one, for operator safety. Sometimes these weeds turn taller and they impede operator visibility arsenic good arsenic during the summertime season," Aguilera said. "As we spot these temperatures, we similar to trim the hazard of these wildfires passim the contiguous area."

As the writer changes with the weather, CAL FIRE tells Action News this play is different, with summer-like conditions arriving a small earlier than expected.

"We're starting to tally writer fires oregon vegetation fires earlier than past year," says CAL FIRE spokesperson Gary Couch.

Our Skyview30 camera captured the changing landscape.

Take a look astatine this changeable of the Owens Mountains conscionable a period earlier. You tin spot the alteration successful color. It's greenish successful aboriginal March, past turns aureate by the extremity of the period and present appears brown.

With the adust writer and winds, occurrence crews are taking enactment up of the hotter months erstwhile occurrence play tends to prime up.

"Yeah, we don't wanna spot what we had past year, particularly successful January," says Couch.

Last year, the Central Valley saw respective fires crossed the region. That is what they're trying to prevent.

"It's bully radical are trying to hole and instrumentality attraction of their properties by mowing their adust weeds now," Couch says. "Again, if you privation to bash it earlier 10 a.m."