document: `` Right now the rains have caused everything to green up , but that can change in a few weeks , '' Lisa Boyd , a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Sacramento , said Monday . `` The state 's really a tinderbox this year . Everyone 's going to have to be extra careful . '' ; In Santa Clara County , the conditions are not yet extreme ; March storms probably delayed fire season until mid-June. ; But the county 's wild lands are littered with heavy fuel -- brush and trees -- killed by the drought or the December freeze. ; `` The late rains have given us a real good grass crop , the catalyst to ignite heavier fuels , '' said fire prevention officer Dick Mauldin at the forestry department 's Morgan Hill ranger unit. ; Particularly vulnerable are the eucalyptus groves that did not survive the freeze , Mauldin said . `` Fires in there are going to be particularly hot , hard to put out , '' he said. ; Statewide , according to the U.S. Forest Service , 10 percent of the trees in the 18 national forests have been killed by the drought or the insect infestations it spawned. ; State forestry officials estimate 10 million trees -- Boyd called them `` standing kindling '' -- have died in California 's wooded areas since the drought began. ; California 's worst fire year was 1987 , when 900,000 acres burned . Summer weather will be the key to how severe this fire season is. ; `` If we get into a period of temperatures in the 90s and 100s and it stays that way for a week or so , there is some real potential for major fires , '' Mauldin said. ; Firefighters are most concerned about rural areas of the South Bay and East Bay where people have built homes among heavy vegetation. ; `` We preach every year for homeowners to take precautions -LRB- such as clearing brush from around their houses -RRB- , and a lot of people do n't do it , '' Mauldin said . `` They think ` it 's never going to happen to me , ' and when it does they start pointing fingers . '' ; Mauldin said the Morgan Hill ranger unit will begin manning some of its seasonal stations Monday , begin hiring summer season firefighters June 3 , and have all of the back-country stations opened by July 1. ; The Morgan Hill unit covers parts of Santa Clara , Alameda , Contra Costa , Stanislaus , San Joaquin and Merced counties. ; In Alameda and Contra Costa counties , officials also are bracing for a long , hot summer . `` We do n't want to say this is the worst fire season in X years , but we are gearing up for it , '' said Ned MacKay , spokesman for the East Bay Regional Park District . `` We have to be prepared . '' ; Statewide , the biggest fire threat looms in the chaparral-covered coastal mountains south of Santa Barbara , where the moisture content of trees and shrubs is the lowest ever recorded for this time of year , Boyd said. ; `` Every year the drought continues , the conditions get more explosive , but we ca n't say for sure what is going to happen this year , '' Boyd said. ; Two of the forestry department 's 22 ranger units -- both in Southern California -- are fully staffed for the fire season now , Boyd said , and all are expected to be ready by mid-June. ; California does n't face the fire threat alone. ; Officials at the federal Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho , which coordinates firefighting efforts throughout the West , said parts of 11 states in the far West , and North Dakota and Minnesota , also face major fire danger this year. ; Wildfire precautions ; The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection advises residents of rural areas to take special precautions to protect their homes from wildfires this summer : ; -LRB- box -RRB- Clear at least a 30-foot defensible space of brush and dry grass around your house . On some properties , such as those on the ridge tops , the clear area should be as much as 100 feet wide . The break does n't have to be bare dirt , but could be planted with fire-resistant vegetation. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Remove all pine needles and leaves from your roof , eaves and rain gutters. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Trim tree limbs within 10 feet of your chimney and trim all dead limbs hanging over your house or garage. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Install a spark arrester on your chimney . They are available at hardware stores. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Treat wood shingle roofs with fire retardant on a regular basis. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Make sure there is adequate access for firefighters to get to your home , and ensure that neighborhood streets are clearly identified. ; -LRB- box -RRB- Further information can be obtained from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 's fire prevention unit in Morgan Hill , -LRB-408-RRB- 779-2121 . ; Source : California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
extractive_keyphrases: fire protection fire season heavy fuel national forests fire threat firefighting efforts wildfire precautions fire prevention unit california department
abstractive_keyphrases: u.s. forest service