Bay Area firefighters are preparing for the upcoming warning alert

As fire danger increases beginning Thursday and continuing into the weekend, communities across the Bay Area are bracing for possible power outages and firefighters are bracing for what could happen.

“Here, for example, Bay Point on Highway 4, a lot can happen and happen,” said Capt. Chris Toler of the Contra Costa Fire Protection District. “This entire area is all dry fuels. And of course the dry conditions always make a fire much more difficult.”

Toler thinks about trouble spots, including the highway a red flag warning for the entire county and most of the Bay Area.

“We are busy staffing specialized equipment, our bulldozer program will be staffed over the next two days during this weather event,” Toler said of the upcoming weather.

It is a weather event that does not bring intense heat, but gusty winds with low humidity, at a time when slopes without extreme conditions are already causing problems.

“There is no fuel moisture in the hills, as you can see from my window here in the office,” Toler told CBS News Bay Area as he looked outside. “The grass is pretty dry.”

“You know, a warning day isn't always about the heat and the heat index,” said Chief Damon Coving of the Oakland Fire Department. “It's about the wind and what the wind can do to a small fire. Really crank it up, create a wind-driven fire that can really get going.”

On a day when clouds and even a few drops of rain rolled over the Oakland hills, the Oakland Fire Department also made plans for the next few days.

“Because of the forecast winds,” Covington explained. “At our peaks, winds are 40 to 50 miles per hour. From a city perspective, one of the things we have done is increased staffing to Type 3 equipment, which will be available throughout the hills.”