California fire officials said that the drought declaration by Gov. Jerry Brown means additional personnel and resources will be added to deal with the wildfire risks caused by the driest winter in recent memory.
Cal Fire’s Daniel Berlant said that just since Jan. 1 his agency have responded to more than 150 wildfires around the state, which have burned more than 600 acres.
“In a typical year we would have responded to about 25 small wildfires here and there. So this is a very unusual winter and unfortunately if we don’t get rain anytime soon this could be a sign of what’s to come,” Berlant said.
Cal Fire said the Southern California fire season never really ended. The department is hiring more than 120 additional firefighters for Northern California. Fire air stations around the state have remained open longer.
Some state officials have said that if past heavy wildfire years are any indication, budget reserves might be needed to pay for the additional firefighting resources.
