The Riverside Fire Department's swift water rescue crews are getting ready for what could be a busy weekend.
With heavy rain expected, the water level in the Santa Ana River is expected to rise, bringing potentially dangerous conditions to a large number of people living in homeless encampments along the river bottom.
"Yesterday, the city of Riverside sent out a wireless emergency alert along the area of the river bottom... to notify anybody who might be living in and around the river bottom to get out of the area," said Div. Chief Chuck Tasker. "Additionally, the Riverside Police Department has done a flyover with their helicopter doing announcements up and down the river."
The Riverside Fire Department's swift water rescue crews are getting ready for what could be a busy weekend.
Tasker said they haven't had any water rescues this season, but last year they were called out to the river a number of times.
Not only can it be dangerous for people living in the river as the water level rises, but for first responders who are called in to rescue them.
"Water is extremely powerful. It can pin you up against debris or things like that within the river, so it's extremely dangerous."
There's also concern in some of the burn areas. Five years after the El Dorado Fire ripped through Yucaipa and Oak Glen, there's still not enough coverage on the hillsides.
And with heavy rain expected, the department is urging people living in those areas to be ready.