State of emergency called for California fire, wildfires burn in several states

California Governor Edmund Brown Jr. issued a proclamation of a state of emergency Thursday in response to a wildfire in Tuolumne County that has damaged natural resources, threatened homes and infrastructure and prompted evacuations.

The wildfire is one of many currently ravaging parts of states, including California, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. A media report earlier this week by AP noted that the wildfires burning in those states are taxing national firefighting resources and helping to push spending past the $1 billion mark for the year.

The Tuolumne County fire, which is near Yosemite National Park, started Aug. 17 and has burned more than 53,000 acres, damaged homes and is threatening 2,500 other residence, notes a statement from the governor’s office. The fire has necessitated the evacuation of residents, and the opening of emergency shelters.

“I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exists within the County of Tuolumne due to these events,” Brown notes in the proclamation.

On Thursday, the Boise-based National Fire Information Center announced that four new large fires were reported on Wednesday: two in Wyoming and one each in Idaho and Washington. Fire activity in California remains steady, the update stated, adding that the Rim fire made a significant 11-mile run on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) increased the national fire Preparedness Level (PL) to its highest point, PL-5. PL ranges from 1, indicating minimal activity, to 5, which signals very high activity.

At the time, NMAC reported 31,986 wildfires have burned 3.4 million acres in the United States so far in 2013. “Wildfire activity has escalated in recent days after thunderstorms, many with little or no moisture, moved across parts of California, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, sparking hundreds of new fires.”

This is the fifth time PL-5 has been reached in the last 10 years, NMAC reports.