The Sacramento region is a tinderbox waiting to explode, and fire prevention officials are warning that it won't take much to ignite an inferno.

The Labor Day weekend was the last hurrah for many on summer vacation. But, for local firefighters, the next few weeks will be some of the most critical in a fire season that started too early and already has burned too hot.

"We've been really lucky so far," Capt. Jim Doucette, spokesman for the Sacramento Fire Department, said last week.

For many local fire-prevention experts, the question is not if the Sacramento region will have a catastrophic fire, the question is when, Doucette said.

Tossed cigarettes, backyard barbecues and untended campfires are some of the main concerns cited by local officials. They also warn that well-meaning residents trying to clear their land could be surprised by a single spark from a lawn mower blade striking a rock.

Officials in the Eldorado National Forest – one of Sacramento's outdoor playgrounds – term the fire danger in their area "critically high." Strict controls on any type of fire outside "hosted" campgrounds have been in place since June, but many visitors are ignoring those rules, officials said.

Dangerous conditions extend all the way to urban areas, said Assistant Chief Greg Mugartegui, with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

State officials measure the moisture in vegetation to provide local firefighters with a "burn index," and those measurements are "off the chart," Murgartegui said.

"In June and July, we were seeing conditions that were as dry as they usually are in September and October," Doucette said.

He recently returned from visiting relatives in Boise, Idaho, where a wind-driven fire devastated a neighborhood on Aug. 25.

"I started driving around, taking a look at the many neighborhoods that we have in Sacramento that are just like that neighborhood in Boise," Doucette said.

The common elements: older homes with wood siding and shake roofs, surrounded by wood fences and dry, brushy fields, he said.

Mugartegui said that Sacramento Metro regularly deals with wildland fires along the American River Parkway.

"On the north side of the American River there are a lot of homes at the top of the bluffs, and a fire could race right up those hills," Mugartegui said.

For that reason, everybody along the river must be very careful with any kind of fire.

His district is also responsible for thousands of acres of dry grassland in the areas around Sloughhouse and Rancho Murieta.

Folsom firefighters, assisted by Sacramento Metro and El Dorado Hills firefighters, already battled a fire that severely damaged a home on Marvin Court. That two-alarm blaze occurred about 4:30 p.m. Aug. 26.

Investigators determined it was sparked by a malfunctioning backyard propane barbecue.

Residents using charcoal barbecues also can get burned if the charcoal is not disposed of properly. People don't realize that charcoal can retain heat for days, even if it feels cool to the touch, Mugartegui said.

Too often, residents will toss "dead coals" into their garbage cans, which are made of highly flammable petroleum-based plastic. A little wind at the wrong time, and a fire is suddenly climbing up the side of the house or along a wooden fence.

"It goes up like you are throwing gas on a fire," Mugartegui said.

He suggested soaking spent barbecue coals in water, in a steel bucket, for several days before tossing them.

That is one of many strategies residents can use to decrease fire danger at an especially critical time, Mugartegui said.

Call The Bee's David Richie, (916) 608-7455.