Newsom during Fresno County visit cites Creek Fire impact, promises half billion in aid
Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared Thursday afternoon near Shaver Lake in eastern Fresno County, unveiling a $536 million funding plan to help improve California’s wildfire response.
The location Newsom chose was in the area of the Creek Fire, which last year raced through Shaver and Huntington lakes, Mammoth Pool and the San Joaquin River canyon, burning a total of 379,895 acres before fire managers declared full containment on Dec. 24.
“This community has been disproportionately impacted, so I just want to acknowledge that,” Newsom said at the outset of Thursday’s speech.
“Not only going through that experience last September, but going through the experience at the same time we’re trying to deal with a once-in-a-generation pandemic. Those are are twin crises, the likes of which I hope we’ll never have to go through again.”
Newsom said he could sign the plan, supported by Senate President pro tem Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, as early as Tuesday next week.
Some of the efforts will include making buildings more fire resistant, creating buffer zones, prescribed burning and forest management. Efforts will vary according to regional needs.
“We want this going full on by May 1. Let’s be realistic, fire season has already started,” Newsom said.
Last month, the governor announced $80.74 million in emergency funds would go toward hiring an additional 1,399 firefighters for Cal Fire, ahead of this year’s peak fire season. The will include local and regional recruiting.
Newsom said 77% of California’s West Coast is in a major drought. He said western state governors have been working with President Joe Biden’s administration to address fire suppression. “I’m here because I wanted to see the progress of people getting back into their homes and I wanted to see the progress of fire management,” he said.
Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the National Resource Agency, said managing the situation ahead of time is part of the solution. “We are not going to respond our way out of this crisis,” Crowfoot said. “Clearly much more needs to be done on a more proactive, upfront basis.”
The state’s hiring spree of firefighters comes in the aftermath of a brutal fire season in 2020 when five of the six worst fires in state history occurred.
Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig attended the news conference held in his district. He said he was pleased by much of what Newsom said but also wants to hear more talk about logging in the region as a way to manage the forest while creating jobs.
Magsig said the county has spent millions removing “tens of thousands of trees” along highways to trim what could fuel a wildfire as well as create space for firefighters to enter and leave a area.
“We’re working with property owners so when they build back they can build in a way that their properties can be hardened,” he said. “There are things we can do as we build back to make out mountain communities that much more resilient.”
Among those massive fires was the Creek Fire, which is considered the largest single fire in California history, taking almost four months to completely contain.
The Creek Fire began burning on Sept. 4 around 6:30 p.m. in the Big Creek drainage, in the forest wedged between Shaver and Huntington Lakes. It quickly raced through both lakes, Mammoth Pool and the San Joaquin River Canyon, burning a total of 379,895 acres before fire managers declared full containment on Dec. 24.
Officials say they have not concluded what caused the devastating fire. The U.S. Forest Service, which is in charge of the investigation, has declined to rule out any causes or provide a timeline for wrapping up the probe.
The fire destroyed a total of 853 structures, the bulk of which were single-family homes, according to the Forest Service. It also damaged 64 structures, including 34 houses.
Fire officials say fire suppression cost almost $200 million, and including property damage, the fire cost upwards of $500 million.
It was just the latest in what has become an almost annual tragedy in California. There was the Camp Fire in 2019, Woolsey Fire in 2018 and Tubbs Fire in 2017, to name a few.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 2:12 PM.
