Battling California's Wildfires
Gov. Schwarzenegger and President Bush Discuss Coordinated Federal and State Response to California’s Wildfires
7/17/2008

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined President George W. Bush in Redding to receive a briefing on the state's wildfires from state and local officials and to survey fire damage during an aerial tour of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. During the visit, the Governor and President discussed the effective coordination of resources between California's local, state and federal partners during this wildfire siege, which at its peak included more than 2,000 fires and has scorched more than 887,000 acres to date.

"The cooperation during these unprecedented wildfires has been fantastic, and I appreciate the federal support and resources we have received," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "Thanks to this great coordination, we have been able to obtain and utilize resources from the federal government, 40 states and a number of international partners. We face more challenges in the hot and dry summer months ahead-as we help people put their lives back together and stay prepared for inevitable future fires-and I look forward to the President continuing to be our partner in this effort."

Since the Governor asked the President for additional equipment and personnel on July 9, numerous federal resources have been provided, including:

  • 301 fire trucks
  • 12 fixed-wing aircraft
  • 50 helicopters
  • More than 3,500 personnel
  • NASA drone

In addition, FEMA is reimbursing the state $31 million in public assistance funding to CAL FIRE for some of the costs incurred to fight the ongoing California wildfires. FEMA will reimburse 75 percent of firefighting costs with the remaining 25 percent coming from the state.

Over the last two months, the Governor has declared a state of emergency in the following 12 counties due to wildfires: Butte, Inyo, Kern, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Plumas, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Trinity.

On June 26, the Governor sent a letter to President Bush requesting that he expeditiously declare an emergency for the State of California as a result of the fires ignited by lightning and hundreds of thousands of acres that had burned. The Governor requested direct federal assistance, debris removal and emergency protective measures, including air and ground firefighting resources, evacuation operations and sheltering of displaced people and animals for the counties of Butte, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Trinity, and later Kern, Mariposa, Plumas and Santa Barbara.

On June 28, the President responded by declaring an emergency in the State of California. And on July 9, the President expanded that emergency declaration, allowing state and local first responders to receive additional federal funds to pay for firefighting and emergency response costs occurring since June 20. FEMA is now authorized to provide emergency protective measures for a period of up to 60 days beginning on June 20 and ending on August 20, or the close of the incident period, whichever occurs first.
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