Program Enhancements and Other Budget Adjustments
Wildland Firefighting Initiative

In the fall of 2007, California suffered one of its worst disasters in recent history in the Southern California Wildfires when approximately 23 fires burned between October 20, 2007 and November 9, 2007. According to the OES, these fires resulted in the largest evacuation in California's history of approximately 322,000 mandatory evacuees.

This event highlighted the need for additional firefighting staff, equipment, and resources to aggressively position our state against future fires by improving our fire prevention and suppression system, as indicated in the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire Commission report. While many of the Commission's recommendations have been implemented, the Governor's Budget proposes a more aggressive plan to purchase additional firefighting equipment over the next six years and increase staffing including seasonal firefighters and emergency services personnel for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), OES, and the California National Guard (Guard).

To fund this plan, the Governor's Budget proposes to implement a significant recommendation of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire Commission regarding the establishment of a secure funding stream to enhance the state's firefighting capabilities. As such, the Governor's Budget proposes to assess a surcharge of 1.25 percent on all residential and commercial property insurance statewide to fund the additional resources that would improve California's ability to respond to wildland fires throughout the state. Since homeowners, on average, pay approximately $900 per year to insure their home, a 1.25-percent surcharge would result in an average cost of $11.25 per household to fund this initiative. Due to timing of implementation, based on ten months of billing, this surcharge is expected to generate approximately $104.9 million Insurance Fund in 2008-09 to fund the following programs for CAL FIRE ($77.8 million), the OES ($12.1 million), and the Guard ($9.2 million).

To help quell wildfires before a catastrophic event occurs, the Governor's Budget includes the following proposals to enhance the state's fire response and firefighting capabilities:


CAL FIRE
  • Additional Firefighters-$28.9 million and 1,100 seasonal firefighters to staff all 336 state fire engines with full four-member crews during peak and transition fire seasons.
  • GPS Tracking-$4.2 million and 3.8 positions to install GPS tracking on key pieces of equipment, such as fire engines and aircraft, linked to computer-aided dispatching.
  • State-of-the-Art Helicopters-A multi-year expenditure plan to enable CAL FIRE to purchase eleven new, all-weather, 24-hour firefighting helicopters over the next six years.
  • Backfill Budget-Balancing Reductions-$44.7 million in 2008-09 to backfill the budget balancing reductions CAL FIRE is taking to its fire protection budget. Restoring these budget-balancing reductions will prevent the closing of 20 one-engine fire stations, 11 conservation camps, and 1 helitack base.

OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
  • Fire Engines-$8.1 million in 2008-09 to purchase 26 fire engines as part of the first year of a five-year cycle to purchase and maintain a total of 131 additional fire engines. These engines will be housed at local fire agencies and utilized to fight fires throughout the state.
  • Firefighting Personnel-$1.6 million and 9.2 positions in 2008-09 to enhance OES' response to wildland fires throughout the state.
  • Increased Maintenance and Fuel Costs-$480,000 to fund the increased maintenance and fuel costs of OES' existing fleet of fire engines and vehicles.
  • Backfill of Budget-Balancing Reductions-$1.9 million in 2008-09 to backfill the budget-balancing reductions OES is taking to its Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid Response section and its Warning Center/Information Technology/Telecommunications section. Restoring these budget-balancing reductions will ensure that OES' ability to respond to fires and utilize its Warning Center to notify emergency first responders will not be compromised.
  • Telephone Emergency Notification-The Office of Homeland Security will make grant funding available to ensure that telephone emergency notification, a system where the public is notified of emergency situations via telephone calls, is available in each and every county.

CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD
  • Four-Hour Response Time-$4.4 million in 2008-09 and 36 positions to provide 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-per-week coverage and full-time helicopter crews to be able to respond to any emergency situation in California in a matter of four hours or less. One helicopter and crew would be stationed in northern California, and one helicopter and crew would be stationed in southern California.
  • Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS)-$2.6 million in 2008-09 to purchase the first of two MAFFS over two years for the Military Department's C-130J aircraft. The MAFFS will enhance wildland firefighting capabilities by enabling the Military to provide airborne delivery of fire retardant to be dropped accurately and safely on a designated target.
  • Firehawk Fire Fighting Systems-$2.2 million in 2008-09 to purchase the first of three Firehawk firefighting systems over three years. These new systems will enhance the Military Department's ability to fight wildland fires by providing more accurate water dropping dispersion and increased efficiency in existing helicopters.
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CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS for Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Back to Top

 Proposed Workload Budget
 Proposed Budget-Balancing Reductions
 Program Enhancements and Other Budget Adjustments
 image of black pointing arrowWildland Firefighting Initiative
  General Fund Tax Collection
  Board of Equalization

PRINTABLE BUDGET DOCUMENTS Back to Top
Budget Summary - Legislative, Judicial, and Executive (pdf * - 138K) -
Provides this entire Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Chapter in pdf format.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Back to Top
Proposed Budget Detail - Legislative, Judicial, and Executive
Displays Proposed Budget Detail information for Legislative, Judicial, and Executive.