Wildfires destroyed at least 80 homes and threatened an additional 1,500 as flames tore through Central California’s rural communities Friday, according to authorities.
The blaze broke out Thursday as temperatures rose to a 90-plus degrees F. dry heat, moving across a number of ridges and burning homes including some northeast of Bakersfield near Lake Isabella. It came just as others across western states were dying down.
The fires again highlighted an ongoing plea from the United States Forest Service to have wildfires classified as “natural disasters” so it can fund its firefighting efforts from federal emergency money instead of its own programs, which are mainly meant for preventing fires. That call took on renewed urgency this week with the news that the drought and a beetle infestation have left millions of dead trees as perfect fuel for wildfire.
“Unless Congress acts now to address how we pay for firefighting, the Forest Service will not have the resources necessary to address the forest die-off and restore our forests,” said Tom Vilsack, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, the parent agency of the Forest Service, in a statement Wednesday.
The rapid expansion of the Lake Isabella fire underscores how quickly wildfire can become a threat to people and property. “I’ve never been in a wildland fire where I’ve seen so many homes burn,” Kern County Fire Capt. Tyler Townsend told the Associated Press. “It’s one of the most devastating I’ve ever seen.”
From The Christian Science Monitor: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/0624/Lake-Isabella-fire-underscores-Forest-Service-plea-for-wildfire-disaster-fund