Cost of fighting fires in California shocking
The cost of fighting fires in California can be shocking. This fiscal year and last, the state will likely spend well beyond a billion dollars.
The tab already is $800 million and this year won't end until June 30, 2009, more than eight months. That's against only $151 million budgeted.
But things are actually better than they sound -- a lot better.
The tab already is $800 million and this year won't end until June 30, 2009, more than eight months. That's against only $151 million budgeted.
But things are actually better than they sound -- a lot better.
Because of the extreme fragility of the U.S., California and local
economies, The Sun set out to learn if the state, the county and the
city of San Bernardino could survive a disastrous wildfire season.
The answer is a solid "yes" from all parties.
Aaron McLear, press secretary to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said, "We have an emergency fund of $69 million and a reserve fund of $1.5 billion. We will always aggressively respond.
"We've moved a lot of resources to Southern California. We are a lot better off than we have been at any time in the past," McLear said.
"We can respond quicker and contain quicker before the fire grows and becomes a burden to the taxpayer," McClear said.
Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire, said readiness for his department came early this year, when the governor signed an executive order placing four firefighters on an engine instead of just three.
He said that in the big fire year of 2003 -- which saw the the Old Fire, the Grand Prix and others -- his department inventoried its resources and discovered it was 15 years behind, but it has since caught up. They now have 336 engines with 75 new ones to begin delivery in next month and another 75 before the end of the fiscal year.
He also talked about Cal Fire's contract with the "very effective" DC-10 air tanker out of Victorville. The department had hoped to replace its 11 UH1H Super Huey Vietnam-era helicopters with more effective and safer twin-engine helicopters such as those used in Los Angeles as well as LA and San Diego counties, Berlant said, but they were knocked out of the budget in the Legislature.
State Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, also referred to the state's reserve fund.
"Those funds are not touched and they are the first replenished. Common sense needs to rule (in firefighting). Just get the job done and apologize later," Dutton said, adding that protecting human life is the first priority. "There's no politics in that, Democrat or Republican."
San Bernardino is able to conserve money on firefighting through "a very robust mutual aid agreement," said Jim Morris, chief of staff to Mayor Pat Morris. "We updated our mutual aid agreements this year. The improved agreements allow rapid mobilization and minimize costs.
"It's the most responsible way to protect lives and save money," Jim Morris said.
The county has its own reserve fund: $273 million. David Wert, county spokesman, said "San Bernardino has been preparing for this for years.
"Oh yeah, there's no danger of major wildfire and our not having the resources to fight it," Wert said.
One negative voice among the yeasayers belongs to Richard Minnich, professor of earth sciences at UC Riverside. He doesn't argue with funds or resources. He challenges the very philosophy of firefighting.
He says fires should be dealt with in the summer, not the fall and winter, when the Santa Anas blow. And they shouldn't be fought at all unless they threaten the urban interface.
But "when the fire is in the middle of nowhere, watch it," Minnich says. Let it burn slowly.
If an area has burned in the last 10 years, it's pretty safe, Minnich said. But the area from Redlands east to Yucaipa Ridge, to Mill Creek, Oak Glen and east to Whitewater where the desert begins hasn't burned in 60 to 100 years, Minnich said, adding that Lake Fulmer to Pine Cove hasn't burned and "Idyllwild would be a mess. It's a bomb ready to go off."
wes.hughes@inlandnewspapers.com
The answer is a solid "yes" from all parties.
Aaron McLear, press secretary to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said, "We have an emergency fund of $69 million and a reserve fund of $1.5 billion. We will always aggressively respond.
"We've moved a lot of resources to Southern California. We are a lot better off than we have been at any time in the past," McLear said.
"We can respond quicker and contain quicker before the fire grows and becomes a burden to the taxpayer," McClear said.
Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire, said readiness for his department came early this year, when the governor signed an executive order placing four firefighters on an engine instead of just three.
He said that in the big fire year of 2003 -- which saw the the Old Fire, the Grand Prix and others -- his department inventoried its resources and discovered it was 15 years behind, but it has since caught up. They now have 336 engines with 75 new ones to begin delivery in next month and another 75 before the end of the fiscal year.
He also talked about Cal Fire's contract with the "very effective" DC-10 air tanker out of Victorville. The department had hoped to replace its 11 UH1H Super Huey Vietnam-era helicopters with more effective and safer twin-engine helicopters such as those used in Los Angeles as well as LA and San Diego counties, Berlant said, but they were knocked out of the budget in the Legislature.
State Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, also referred to the state's reserve fund.
"Those funds are not touched and they are the first replenished. Common sense needs to rule (in firefighting). Just get the job done and apologize later," Dutton said, adding that protecting human life is the first priority. "There's no politics in that, Democrat or Republican."
San Bernardino is able to conserve money on firefighting through "a very robust mutual aid agreement," said Jim Morris, chief of staff to Mayor Pat Morris. "We updated our mutual aid agreements this year. The improved agreements allow rapid mobilization and minimize costs.
"It's the most responsible way to protect lives and save money," Jim Morris said.
The county has its own reserve fund: $273 million. David Wert, county spokesman, said "San Bernardino has been preparing for this for years.
"Oh yeah, there's no danger of major wildfire and our not having the resources to fight it," Wert said.
One negative voice among the yeasayers belongs to Richard Minnich, professor of earth sciences at UC Riverside. He doesn't argue with funds or resources. He challenges the very philosophy of firefighting.
He says fires should be dealt with in the summer, not the fall and winter, when the Santa Anas blow. And they shouldn't be fought at all unless they threaten the urban interface.
But "when the fire is in the middle of nowhere, watch it," Minnich says. Let it burn slowly.
If an area has burned in the last 10 years, it's pretty safe, Minnich said. But the area from Redlands east to Yucaipa Ridge, to Mill Creek, Oak Glen and east to Whitewater where the desert begins hasn't burned in 60 to 100 years, Minnich said, adding that Lake Fulmer to Pine Cove hasn't burned and "Idyllwild would be a mess. It's a bomb ready to go off."
wes.hughes@inlandnewspapers.com
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