With rain on the way, crews race to protect Eaton Fire areas from threat of mudslides

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Residents in Altadena and Pasadena are facing a new weather threat - this time from rain.

After devastating fires and winds, there's concern rain could trigger mudslides in the Eaton Fire zone.

Burned hillsides surround communities in Altadena and Pasadena following the Eaton Fire. With rain on the way, the communities will be tested once again.

There's a 60% to 80% chance of a small amount of rain for Southern California starting Saturday, with most areas likely getting not more than a third of an inch (0.8 cm), said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's office for Los Angeles.

However up to an inch of rain could fall during localized thunderstorms, which would be a "worst-case scenario" if it's enough to trigger debris flows on scorched hillsides, he said.

"Even a drop of a rain will flow seven times greater than it did prior to these fires," Pasadena city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said. "We see in these foothills where the fire has burned deep into the roots, there's nothing left holding the soil on the ground.

"Just a little bit of rain is going to bring down a lot of mud and debris flow. We want our residents to be prepared."

The city of Pasadena lost 150 homes in the upper Hastings Ranch neighborhood, but hundreds of homes remain in the foothills so 15,000 sandbags are on the way thanks to CalFire and the California Conservation Core.

A 36-member CalFire strike team from Northern California spent Tuesday making sandbags which will be distributed to locations throughout the city for pick-up later this week.

"With the sun shining the next few days, let's get these sandbags picked up and brought to the homes that need them," Derderian said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.