California’s deadly wildfires prompt flurry of new laws

Sept. 29--Wildfires raged throughout California once again this year as state lawmakers worked to address the searing issues of California's new No. 1 problem: How to cope with infernos killing scores of people and costing billions of dollars in damage.

Devastating fires are "the new normal," Gov. Jerry Brown warned this summer. Temperatures continue to rise, and the mix of drought-stricken, fuel-laden forests and nearby homes for millions of Californians is proving ever more combustible and deadly.

Over the past two years, firestorms have claimed the lives of 57 people in California, destroyed more than 9,000 homes and scorched more than 4,000 square miles from San Diego to the Oregon border. A state firefighter called the situation a "perfect storm" and a Santa Rosa Christian pastor said it reminded him of the "end times" prophesied in the Bible.

The catastrophes triggered a search for solutions within firefighting agencies, power companies, the insurance industry and the halls of local and state government.

It culminated on Sept. 21, when Brown signed 29 measures into law addressing a host of issues from forest management, mutual aid and emergency alerts to price gouging on rental homes and safety mandates for new electric garage doors.

"There were really things that needed to happen for the benefit of all Californians," said Michael Wara, a lawyer and Stanford University scholar focused on climate and energy policy.

"I had pretty modest expectations going into this," Wara said, noting the issues facing lawmakers were complex and the time was short, with an Aug. 31 deadline to pass legislation and the November election looming to determine Brown's successor.

But the professor was impressed with the Legislature's performance. "I'd give them an A-minus," he said.

A bipartisan response

In early July, Brown called on a bipartisan committee of lawmakers to develop proposals to strengthen disaster preparedness and respond to increasing wildfire danger. The top issue would be balancing liability for last year's wildfire damages between electric utilities and their ratepayers, recalled state Sen. Bill Dodd, a Napa Democrat.

By the time the joint Senate-Assembly committee held its first public hearing on July 25, eight major wildfires were blazing, and Thom Porter, a Cal Fire region chief with 30 years' experience as a forester, told the lawmakers he had "never seen such volatile conditions across the state."

Three weeks later, there were 15 fires burning.

"It became clear to us we really had a big job to do," said Dodd, co-chairman of the 10-member committee.

Wara, who was called as a witness at the committee's first hearing, said it was "almost a no-brainer" that California had to spend more money on "vegetation management," the term that refers to controlled burns, thinning forests and other means of reducing the fuel available to fires. He recalled that Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott was asked at a hearing how much it would cost to make the wildlands safe. Pimlott couldn't say.

"It's such a big problem they never even thought they would conceivably have the resources to address it," Wara said.

Assemblyman Jim Wood, a Santa Rosa Democrat who served on the committee, risked some political capital by stating he would not vote for the committee's centerpiece bill without guaranteed annual funding for vegetation management, which he said should be $300 million a year.

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