FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Leading wildfire experts speak a town hall Tuesday on California’s fires and what can be done in the short and long term to prepare for them.
The New Abnormal: a Town Hall on California’s Fires and the Future also addressed how technology is shaping fire prevention and firefighting.
“Fire is part of this state’s ecology and Californians need to realize that every acre in this state can and will burn someday,” said Thom Porter, Chief of Strategic Planning, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) one member of a panel speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
In the past year, the state has seen 7 of its 20 most destructive wildfires ever, including the recent Camp Fire in Butte County, and the Woolsey Fire in Malibu outside of Los Angeles.
Combined, both fires cost hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars in damage.
“2017 was a very active fire-related legislative year, and I would expect that 2018 is going to add to that” said Chief Porter (below left).
Porter said they will be looking at retrofitting, hardening buildings, land use planning.
The State’s working to make sustainable forestry not cost-prohibitive to land owners, said Keith Gilles, Chair, California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection; Professor of Forest Economics, regarding state forestry management.
“When is fire season in CA? “Every month,” said Porter. “There isn’t a single month that doesn’t scare me anymore.”
One woman asked the panel about evacuations – “Because if PG&E cuts the power for very long… how are we going to communicate? Is this a time when we need something new? Because we need something faster.”
She asked Chief Porter about the possibility of creating a public-private task force on wildfires.
Porter said that’s one idea being considered, and with the transition of leadership from Governor Jerry Brown to Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom, there will be changes made dealing with wildfires in California.
“Gavin Newsom is very interested in the public-private, technology-based, science- based approach to fixing these problems, and I believe we will be working very hard on that in the coming months,” said Chief Porter.
Cal Fire said the key steps for fire-prone communities is to be prepared ahead of time, know the risk of your home, and know when it’s time to go.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’S Liz Kern:
