Recent rains have significantly reduced wildfire danger in Orange County’s back country, raising the prospect that the county’s long-running fire-closure season could be lifted for the first time in four years. 
Yet even after a chain of powerful storms drenched the county, fire danger remains moderate, and high in places that did not receive as much rain, said George Ewan, the wildland fire defense planner for the Orange County Fire Authority.
“Fuel moistures are increasing,” Ewan said. “That means there’s enough moisture in the ground that the root systems are picking it up. That will help us greatly. The vegetation is beginning to turn green as you can see by the hillsides.”
On the other hand, he said, much of the county’s dead vegetation — “fuel” to firefighters — remains dry.
