Newsom announces $80 million to hire more firefighters ahead of fire season
(File photo by Matthew Keys/Solano NewsNet)
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced the allocation of new funds that are intended to help the state onboard more firefighters months before the start of fire season.
In a press release sent to reporters, the Governor’s office said Newsom approved $80.74 million that is expected to be used to hire nearly 1,400 additional firefighters through the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the state’s firefighting agency.
“In California, climate change is making the hots hotter and the dries drier, leaving us with world record-breaking temperatures and devastating wildfires threatening our communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “We aren’t just waiting for the next crisis to hit – this funding will support our heroic firefighters to save lives as they work to prevent and tackle destructive wildfires.”
California saw a significant increase in destructive and deadly wildfires last year, including one that originated in Napa County and crossed into Solano County last August. That fire, the LNU Complex Wildfire, destroyed around 300 homes in Solano County. Five people lost their lives in connection with that fire, including two Solano County residents and a utility worker here.
Last year’s wildfire season was accelerated by climate change and further exacerbated by the ongoing coronavirus health pandemic, which reduced the state’s firefighting numbers and created additional complications as front-line firefighters worked to protect the lives and property of residents while taking added safeguards to ensure their safety in the wake of the health crisis.
State officials are hoping to not experience a repeat of what happened last year. As part of Newsom’s announcement on Tuesday, California will spend some of that emergency fund money to onboard 1,256 front-line firefighters with CAL FIRE through June 30, 2021. They will also hire 119 firefighters to staff CAL FIRE’s helitack crews to fight wildfires from the air.
Newsom’s proposed budget includes $1 billion in state funds to support California’s Wilfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, which helps manage forests and other wildland within the state’s jurisdiction through 2025, officials said on Tuesday.
The budget also proposes $143 million in state funds to enhance firefighting capabilities, including the creation of 30 new CAL FIRE crews and an additional $48 million to continue building out CAL FIRE’s aerial firefighting capabilities.
California lawmakers have until June 15 to pass the state’s next budget.
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