treesource

Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future

State senators: No easy solutions for deadly California megafires

by 1 Comment

Flames from the Camp Fire burn near a home atop a ridge near Big Bend, California, on November 10, 2018. Photo: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) – About six months ago, the Camp Fire laid waste to the town of Paradise, California, and eventually killed 85 people, destroyed 18,000 buildings and caused an estimated $16.5 billion in damage.

The most destructive wildfire in California history came a year after the second-most destructive wildfire in state history – the Tubbs Fire, which razed a huge swath of Wine Country north of San Francisco, killing 22 people, burning down about 5,600 buildings and wreaking $1.3 billion in damage.

The consecutive large fires have not only devastated families and communities, but both public and private officials continue to grapple with the financial, regulatory and legislative issues.

This wildfire-driven crisis was evident during a meeting of the state Senate Select Committee, convened to discuss Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Wildfire and Climate Change” report. [Read more…]

Wildfire mitigation: California Senate approves forest management changes

by Leave a Comment

Thomas Fire, Ventura, CA, Los Padres NF, 2017
Firefighters watch the approach of last fall’s Thomas Fire in Ventura, California, Los Padres National Forest. Photo: U.S. Forest Service

In the midst of a string of catastrophic wildfires, the California Senate sent a bill to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk Friday that makes sweeping changes to forest management and wildfire prevention while addressing the role utility companies play in the devastation.

Senate Bill 901 aims to strike a balance between ratepayers and utilities, using a new set of rules to determine how much of the cost of repaying wildfire losses utilities can pass on to consumers. When not at fault, utilities will be allowed to finance the debt, thereby reducing how much is passed on to the end consumer and preventing forced bankruptcy. But the bill also doubles penalties for utilities found to be at fault for causing fires.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire determined in June that downed power lines and other maintenance issues on equipment belonging to investor-owned utility Pacific Gas & Electric caused over a dozen such fires. [Read more…]