Congressman: Feds can do more amid daunting dry season

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, called for more support from the federal government to fight wildfires such as the one that by Monday had charred 60,000 acres in Lake County and remained only about 12 percent contained.

Garamendi, a former deputy secretary of the U.S. Interior Department, was briefed Sunday about California wildfires by CAL FIRE, California Office of Emergency Services, U.S. Forest Service and California National Guard officials.

The Rocky Fire in Lake County spread across 20,000 acres in five hours and has burned 60,000 acres, CAL FIRE announced Monday. It has burned 24 homes and 26 other buildings and damaged three others, and has forced evacuation of all areas east of California Highway 29 at Raita Road, areas east of California Highway 53 and north to California Highway 20, among others.

Cause of the fire is under investigation by CAL FIRE and several other agencies.

Officials told Garamendi that the severe multi-year drought has dried out brush and trees, causing the Rocky Fire and the fast-moving Wragg Fire near Lake Berryessa to spread more quickly than usual.

Conditions also have made the fires more dangerous for both emergency responders and fleeing residents, Garamendi was told. He said firefighters and emergency responders are doing the best they can.

“Congress has an important role to play in managing wildfires,” he said. “Under existing law, when wildfire suppression funds are exhausted, agencies are forced to use funds that are set aside for the wildfire management programs that make wildfires less extreme. That’s shortsighted and dangerous.

“We need to make sure wildfires are treated like every other natural disaster by enabling emergency responders to access federal emergency funds when disaster strikes. This will make sure that we don’t foolishly undermine the fire prevention programs that make wildfires less severe.”

Garamendi promised to seek more reliable funding for wildfire management. “The current system is broken and makes our forests less resilient to catastrophic wildfire,” he said. “It’s self-defeating to curtail activities designed to prevent forest fires, such as thinning overgrown forests and clearing underbrush, to cover the full costs of fighting blazes that have become more destructive over the past decade.”

Sharing is caring!