OROVILLE, Calif. – California is in such an urgent race with another devastating wildfire season that officials began soliciting local project ideas even before they had money to pay for them.
It faces such a threat of drought that the governor said Tuesday that he has executive orders drafted and ready to sign as needed.
In normal years, the worst of the fires don't start until late summer or fall, leaving a window through about May to thin forests, clear buffer zones designed to slow the spread of fires near communities, and beef up the state's seasonal fire crews.
Not this year, officials said. A dry winter is already blending into a tinder-dry summer that has produced twice as many wildfires as this time last year, Gov.