Report: California needs more firefighting preparedness
Panel calls for more helicopters, fire engines and firefighters
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A state panel reviewing October’s huge Southern California wildfires called Friday for more night-flying helicopters, fire engines and firefighters — welcome news to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he champions a new tax to pay for fire upgrades.
The report focuses on how to respond more quickly with overwhelming force to small wildfires before they spread into densely populated suburbs, but it doesn’t offer any price tag for the improvements or recommendations on how to pay for them …
Nearly 2,200 homes were destroyed in simultaneous wind-driven blazes from north of Los Angeles south to the Mexican border, causing more than $2.2 billion in private insurance claims. Federal, state and local agencies spent about $100 million fighting flames that charred about 800 square miles and killed 10 people.
At South Tahoe more than 250 homes were destroyed and 3,072 acres burned during June’s Angora Fire.
The panel of fire chiefs and state officials was created after California’s 2003 fires, which destroyed more than 3,600 homes, many in the same areas as last year’s blazes … [more]