SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Heavy rains forecast for this weekend could trigger debris flows, rockslides and flash flooding in the areas burned by the Kincade fire.
The National Weather Service warns that the as much as 4 inches of rain could fall in the Kincade Burn area in northern Sonoma County.
Communities downstream from the burn scar could see flooding, the National Weather Service says.
Heavily saturated soil recently torched by wildfire is notoriously unstable, and heavy rains can cause entire hillsides to slough away, something happens frequently in fire-prone Southern California.
The Kincade Fire, which started Oct. 23, burned 77,758 acres before it was extinguished Nov. 6.
The fire burned at least 374 buildings and prompted the evacuation of close to 200,000 people.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Pacific Gas & Electric has told California regulators a transmission tower malfunctioned near the fire's ignition point in northern Sonoma County.
