Firefighters in Stalemate Against Calif. Wildfires

Firefighters have battled hundreds of wildfires burning throughout Northern California to a stalemate in the past month, but forecasters say dangerous fire conditions will not relent anytime soon. While it is still too soon to tally total insured losses and number of structures burned, as of press time there were 27 active fires, down from more than 1,459 fires at one point. All told, 409,046 acres have burned throughout the Golden State.

Despite the progress, a “red flag warning” — meaning the most extreme fire danger — was still in effect for Northern California as of press time. And the coming months are expected to bring little relief.

Forecasters predict more thunderstorms and dry lightning, similar to the ones that ignited hundreds of fires in late June. A U.S. Forest Service report said the weather will get even drier and hotter as fire season heads toward its peak in late July and August.

Lower-than-average rainfall and record levels of vegetation parched by a spring drought likely mean a long, fiery summer throughout Northern California, according to the Forest Service’s state fire outlook.

Already the fires now burning will take weeks to months to fully bring under control, the report said. Those blazes were mostly sparked by lightning storms that were unusually intense for so early in the season. But summer storms would likely grow even more fierce, according to the Forest Service.

“Our most widespread and/or critical lightning events often occur in late July or August, and we have no reason to deviate from that,” the report said.

Air quality districts from Bakersfield to Redding issued health advisories urging residents to stay indoors to limit their exposure to the smoky air. Air pollution readings in Northern California are two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air, state air regulators said.

President Bush issued an emergency declaration for California and ordered federal agencies to assist in firefighting efforts in Butte, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, and Trinity.

But California emergency officials said that state and local governments would also need federal financing to cover the costs of fighting so many fires this early in the year.

Federal aid now includes four Marine Corps helicopters, remote sensing of the fires by NASA, federal firefighters, and the activation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

More than 18,000 firefighters, nearly 1,700 fire engines and bulldozers, and more than 80 helicopters and aircraft were fighting more than 1,000 active fires as of June 29, said state emergency services spokesman Gregory Renick. The blazes threatened more than 10,000 buildings across the region, he noted.

Meanwhile, many Californians are still recovering from last year’s wildfires, often without enough insurance, according to a survey sponsored by United Policyholders. The San Francisco consumer organization’s survey asked 274 people about the losses they incurred in the wildfires that last fall swept across Southern California. Three-quarters of respondents said they didn’t have enough insurance to pay their rebuilding costs. Only 46 percent of those surveyed settled claims with their insurers; only a third of these said they were offered enough money to cover increased construction costs.

Insurance companies and consumers disagree over who is to blame for insurance not keeping pace with increasing home construction costs. Insurance firms say they can’t force people to pay for more coverage, while consumer advocates counter insurance agents may not adequately telling customers about potential shortcomings.

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said his department believes the responsibility of ensuring a home has sufficient coverage lies with both the homeowner and the insurer.