MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Middletown on Friday to proclaim a state of emergency throughout California ahead of the coming fire season and to announce a series of projects and associated efforts to protect life and property.
Newsom gathered with members of the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Brian Martin, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and state Sen. Mike McGuire, noting he had spoken to them about Lake County’s challenges in wildfire response and recovery since 2015.
“We’re here to celebrate the tenacity and commitment and resolve of this community, and we’re here to do more to support this community as well,” he said.
The governor added that the state wants to help with Lake County’s recovery and rebuilding, help invest in it, “and get this community back on its feet.”
Part of Newsom’s announcement involved expediting forest management projects that will protect 200 of California’s most wildfire-vulnerable communities, in response to a report Cal Fire released earlier this month that identified 35 priority fuel-reduction projects covering 94,000 acres that can be implemented immediately to help reduce the public safety risk for wildfire.
None of those listed projects are in Lake County; among the closest are two in Mendocino County, in Ukiah and Willits, and one in Elk Creek in Glenn County.
That and other parts of the plan are meant to be strategic in protecting 2.2 million homes in the wildland urban interface, he said.
Newsom said he chose to make the declaration “in advance of an emergency” as part of taking a new approach to the state’s fire-related challenges.
“Rather than reacting, we want to get ahead of this by moving forward in an efficient and effective manner to protect lives and protect property, before lives are lost and property is lost,” he said.
He said the action is controversial as some people want to maintain the state’s processes. However, Newsom said the state can choose to go through its usual advertising, procurement and environmental process “or we can actually get some stuff in real time.”
The bottom line, Newsom said, is that the state has to step up its game. “This fire season, it’s right around the corner.”
He added, “We cannot be once again flat-footed and just in a reactive and suppression mode. We’ve got to be much more proactive.”
Last year, 1.9 million acres burned across California, he said.
More than a quarter of that acreage total was burned in the Mendocino Complex, the largest fire in California history since fires began to be recorded, at 459,123 acres. It burned across Mendocino and Lake counties, and into Colusa and Glenn counties from late July into mid September.
The complex, made up of the Ranch and River fires, resulted in thousands of Lake County residents being evacuated, with nearly 300 structures destroyed.
Then in November, the Camp fire destroyed Paradise in Butte County, killing 85 people, and burning more than 18,800 structures and more than 153,000 acres. It was reported to be the deadliest fire in a century.
“We’ve got to do more, we’ve got to do better,” Newsom said.
Sheriff Brian Martin said Lake County has endured a lot. “Lake County really embodies being tough in California.”
He agreed with the governor that it’s important to be proactive. “It’s not a matter of if this is going to happen again, it’s a matter of what we do when it happens again.”
“There is no other county that has been impacted with wildland fire like Lake County,” said Sen. McGuire.
McGuire said 60 percent of Lake County’s land mass has burned since 2015.
Since that time, Lake County has only been able to rebuild 17 percent of its burned homes, with 35 percent still in the permitting process, McGuire said.
That’s compared to the Coffey Park area in Santa Rosa, burned in the October 2017 fire storm. McGuire said that area has seen 75 to 80 percent of its destroyed homes rebuilt or in the permit stage in less than a year and a half.
“This county needs the state’s help,” McGuire said.
Newsom’s plan includes time-saving waivers of administrative and regulatory requirements to protect public safety and allow for action to be taken in the next 12 months, which will begin to systematically address community vulnerability and wildfire fuel buildup through the rapid deployment of forest management resources.
He said that if the California Environmental Quality Act can be fast-tracked for arenas and football stadiums, “we certainly should be able to do so to save people’s lives.”
The governor also said he appreciated President Donald Trump’s visit to Butte County last year in the wake of the Camp fire. “It made a difference. I saw it in the face of the people when he came in.”
Newsom added, “This is not an area for politics. Emergency preparedness, recovery, is not an area for politics. We all have to rise above it.” The governor said he had reached out to the president privately to express those sentiments.
Other parts of the governor’s plan to be proactive include the following:
– The “Innovation Procurement Sprint” seeks to turn government contracting on its head by giving the best and brightest minds an opportunity to have their wildfire solutions tested and evaluated in the field. The governor ordered this “sprint” so that the best tools and technologies can be purchased under government contract while they are still cutting-edge, in an effort to save lives and properties.
– The $50 million California for All Emergency Preparedness Campaign, a joint initiative between Cal Volunteers and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, will augment the efforts of first responders by ensuring at least one million of the most vulnerable Californians are connected to culturally and linguistically competent support.
– The California Natural Resources Agency and the Department of Conservation have announced the award of $20 million in block grants for regional projects that improve forest health and increase fire resiliency. This Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program helps communities prioritize, develop and implement projects that strengthen fire resiliency.
– The administration is publishing Emergency Alert and Warning Guidelines. The guidelines, which were mandated as a result of SB 833 (McGuire), aim to help cities, counties and the state get on the same page when it comes to communicating with Californians in an emergency.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
3.22.19 Wildfire State of Emergency by LakeCoNews on Scribd