1999 Fire Costs for CDF

Fires Cost California $92 Million

1999 Fire Season Was One Of The Worst On Record

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Posted 4:41 p.m. PST January 9, 2000 -- The fires that swept California last summer and fall cost the state at least $92 million, more than triple the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's emergency reserve.

The governor's top budget writer, Finance Department chief Timothy Gage, urged the Legislature to approve $62 million as soon as possible to make up the shortfall, according to internal documents detailing the impact of the fire season that were reviewed Saturday by The Associated Press.

California's 1999 fire season was one of the worst on record, with more than 7,000 wildfires burning at least 275,000 acres. The CDF's air tanker fleet spent 12,100 hours in the sky, 700 hours more than the previous record set in 1996.

The fires were aggravated by parched conditions and high winds, particularly in August and October, when firefighters' spending averaged about $1 million every two days. In those two months alone, President Clinton issued emergency declarations for nine counties due to fires.

In Southern California, fire operations normally scaled back during the wet season in winter and spring were extended into the new year because of the threat from dry and windy conditions, a move that is costing the state roughly $1 million a month.

Some of the costs could be recouped by delaying when firefighters go on alert and gear up this spring by six weeks, the CDF wrote to Gov. Gray Davis' budget office. But it added, "We currently do not have any weather information indicating this will be possible."

Authorities estimate the total cost to the state for emergency fire fighting for the state's fiscal year, July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2000, will reach $145 million.