California Braces for Another Bad Wildfire Season

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2021

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties on Wednesday as California’s record-dry conditions continue. Fuel moisture levels are some of the lowest the state has seen, paving the way for increased fire risk and more intense fires when they occur. Earlier this month, Newsom unveiled a $536 million plan to help prevent future fires. We get an expert’s analysis on what to expect this fire season and what the state could and should do to prepare for it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:34.9	From KQED.
0:37.3	Welcome back to Forum.
0:38.3	I'm Mina Kim.
0:39.3	It may have been cooler this past week with pockets of rain in parts of California,
0:44.3	but that won't make up for our pitiful wet season, which has left vegetation dry and ripe for ignition.
0:52.3	I'm joined now by Adam Kachanski, assistant professor with San Jose
0:55.6	State University's Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center to talk about what his models are
1:00.9	showing for this year's wildfire season. Welcome to Forum Professor Kaczynski.
1:05.9	Hello. Thanks for having me. It's a great pleasure to be with you guys. Well, we appreciate having you on as well.
1:13.7	And here in Northern California last week, as you know, Governor Newsom declared a drought emergency for Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
1:21.0	When we say we had a very dry winter and spring, or we're having a very dry spring as well. Just how bad has it been?
1:30.0	Well, it has been really bad. I mean, if you think about, for example, a snowpack that we still
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