What does a wind speed of 25 mph or more plus a humidity of 15% or less equal? It equals a Red Flag day where those two ingredients can easily bring out a fast moving brush fire in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which happens to be in those lovely hills many call home. Whether it's the Hollywood Hills or Sherman Oaks, people who live on old and skinny streets that would not be easily navigated by a fire engine or ambulance if cars were parked there, must be alert and know when not to park on the street.

If you thought "no parking for street cleaning" signs were hard to keep track of, then imagine having a sign outside your house that said you can't park here on a red flag day, which in essence is saying you can't park here on a day you won't know until the city tells you the morning of.

And if you don't move your car? You get towed.

When the policy went into effect earlier this year, anger soared throughout the hills. How can a citizen reasonably follow a law that is based on extreme conditions that come and go at Mother Nature's whim? The answer lies within alternative methods of marketing and public relations.

Residents can sign up for e-mail alerts, call 311, go to the website, and tune into local TV/radio news programs to listen for updates during traffic and weather reports. The fire department raises a red flag at every station in addition to driving posted areas with CERT members to attempt to find vehicle owners and put flyers on their cars.

All the information you ever wanted to know can be found at
the fire department's Red Flag Parking Information website.

Photo by Fire Monkey Fish via Flickr