[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 113 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6553-S6554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES UPDATE

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to update the Senate on 
the deteriorating situation in California.
  Simply put, the situation is untenable.
  In the past 2 weeks, 1,781 wildfires have burned roughly 688,000 
acres--an area roughly the size of Rhode Island. Today, 323 fires 
continue to burn including the Camp Fire, in Butte County. As a result 
of that fire, 14,000 residents have had to evacuate their homes and 
nearly 50 homes have been destroyed in the past 48 hours.
  It is likely to get worse--with a heat wave and more lightning 
strikes forecast--just as State and Federal resources are being 
depleted.
  Governor Schwarzenegger has told the Federal Government that 
California cannot continue to fight these fires--that with current 
resources the State cannot protect lives and property.
  California needs the following: Personnel: The Governor needs 302 
more hand crews to put on the front lines and 773 support personnel. 
The State has tapped out its resources; it is time for the Federal 
Government to step up to the plate.
  And the Forest Service is also short on staff. Key supervisors and 
firefighters are missing from our national parks, hampering 
firefighting and brush clearing efforts. Last month the agency reported 
380 vacancies in California--roughly 8.5 percent out of a total force 
of 4,432. These positions must be filled. Agriculture Under Secretary 
Mark Rey promised me these vacancies would be filled by July 8. But as 
of today only 289 positions have been filled. We need to do more.
  A Full Emergency Declaration: Governor Schwarzenegger has declared 
emergencies in 11 counties: Butte, Trinity, Shasta, Santa Barbara, 
Santa Clara, Monterey, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Plumas, Kern, and 
Mariposa. But President Bush has issued only a limited emergency 
declaration. California is asking the President for a full disaster 
declaration, which will open the State to broader assistance under the 
Stafford Act. I fully endorse this request.
  Funding: California's fire emergency is burning up Federal 
firefighting dollars at an alarming rate. The Forest Service has 
already expended $704 million--more than half the $1.2 billion in 
available funds--and fire season has just begun. Therefore, I am asking 
for $910 million in emergency appropriations for the Forest Service and 
Interior Department.
  This emergency funding, to be used throughout the United States as 
needed this year, includes: $610 million for wildfire suppression; $125 
million for fuels reduction on State and private lands; $100 million 
for rehabilitation; $50 million for fuels reduction on Federal lands; 
and $25 million for firefighter recruitment and retention in high risk 
areas.
  Air assets: The Governor has told President Bush that we need an 
additional 41 helicopters in California. I am committed to working with 
the President to make these aircraft available from other States, the 
military, or foreign nations. Whatever it takes, we need these 
resources.
  We also need to permanently station military firefighting aircraft in 
California. It is increasingly clear to me that the key to these 
wildfires in remote geographic areas is immediate aerial assault on the 
fires. You cannot get firefighters into these areas fast enough. 
Earlier this year I asked the President and Defense Secretary Robert 
Gates to permanently station two C-130 tankers at Point Mugu. This is 
vital; several C-130s are working these fires today, but they had to 
travel great distances to get to California. This is unacceptable.
  I am writing to the President again to renew this critical request.
  Let me share with you a letter written by Henry Renteria, Director of 
Governor Schwarzenegger's Office of Emergency Services, to R. David 
Paulison, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
  It says in part:

       We are in an unprecedented draw-down in the state's 
     emergency resources. Many fire departments are barely able to 
     maintain sufficient resources for initial attack on new 
     structure fires, while still participating in the statewide 
     mutual aid effort to address these wildfires.

  Even with the assistance of more than 24,000 firefighters from 40 
States, ``California has outstanding orders for fire resources that it 
is unable to fill,'' the letter states.
  Yesterday there were requests for 230 engines that went unfilled, and 
at one point last week there were requests for 400 crews of 15-20 
firefighters that were not met.
  The Governor's letter continues:

       California is in the untenable position of having orders 
     for firefighting resources remaining unfilled for multiple 
     days. The Governor has taken the extraordinary action this 
     week to direct the training of 400 California National Guard 
     soldiers in basic firefighting. These soldiers will be 
     assigned to the firefight as quickly as they can be trained 
     and equipped.

  Mr. Renteria--again, the Governor's authorized representative--
concludes by warning that ``the cumulative impact of these disasters 
has exhausted state and local resources to the point in which 
California cannot avert threat to live and improved property 
adequately.''
  This is without question a clear and present threat to the largest 
State in the Nation.
  California is on the precipice of a major catastrophe. California has 
spent more than $300 million fighting these fires--that is more than it 
spent on last year's firestorms. And this is only the second week of 
July.
  Let me remind you of what the fall brings to southern California. It 
brings strong Santa Ana winds, which fuel massive and deadly 
firestorms: In 2003 in California, huge wildfires burned roughly 1 
million acres; killed 21; and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. And last 
year in California, wildfires blackened 1,087,110 acres; killed 10; and 
destroyed 3,079 structures.
  We are in a new and dangerous time.
  The great bulk of the fires that have burned since last month--more 
than 1,000--were sparked by more than 8,000 dry lightning strikes.

[[Page S6554]]

  California is now faced with dry lightning strikes at a level that I 
cannot remember in my lifetime. And more are forecast this week.
  The State is also facing extreme heat. Across the State, nearly in 
every county, there are excessive heat warnings.
  And the State is in the midst of a serious drought--Governor 
Schwarzenegger has declared a drought emergency.
  The State's reservoirs are below normal, and drought has produced 
record amounts of dry brush. In many areas, there is more dry brush 
than at any point in the 27-year recorded history of the data.
  This dry brush is like an unexploded bomb.
  Last month--the halfway point of the year--more than 272,969 acres in 
California had burned. That's up from 42,214 acres burned at the same 
point last year. And up from the 5-year average of 30,938 acres burned 
on State land at that time of year.
  The facts are clear and cannot be ignored. California is in great 
peril. And California's peril is the Nation's peril, for the costs of 
fighting these fires is fast draining our Federal firefighting 
resources.
  Bottom line: California and the Nation need help now. A potentially 
recordbreaking fire season is upon us. We need to do more. We need to 
prepare. And we need to do it now.

                          ____________________