CAL FIRE up-staffing for high fire risk as strong winds, low humidity move in

A fire risk looms from early Tuesday morning through Thursday evening for counties along the Central Coast and in most parts of Southern California.

The National Weather Service Los Angeles announced a red flag warning Monday afternoon, signaling high wind gusts and low humidity that could be catastrophic for drier land and potentially cause a rapid-growing fire.

“It's pretty much everything Ventura County southward [with the high threat]," National Weather Service forecaster Ryan Kittell said. “At this particular event, we do have the fire danger, but we also just have the raw wind danger. Do expect some delays and travel delays and if you can adjust your travel to maybe not go Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Forty-five additional fire engines and six additional hand crews are making their way to San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.

The San Luis Obispo County CAL FIRE Unit says they're preparing for a potential emergency by adding additional engines, dozers, crews, personnel and aircraft.

“We're making sure that all of our engine strike teams, dozer strike teams, and crew strike teams are available to leave at a moment's notice," CAL FIRE Public Information Officer Ryan Grebe said. “We are also staffing two division group supervisors available in the unit with their vehicles. So if they need to go down and, be in charge of a portion of the fire, they can do that.”

Stay with KSBY News for updates on strong winds as we track conditions in your community.