How much is California spending to put out large wildfires? It's rising every year, data shows

Fueled by hot and dry conditions, wildfires continue to threaten various parts of Northern California. And as fires endanger lives and property, the cost of putting them out continues to climb.

Data shows California spending more and more each year from an emergency fund set aside for large fires.

The fund’s costs are projected to reach an all-time high of over $1.2 billion for the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

“You can see the numbers start creeping up each year,” Cal Fire public information officer Lynne Tolmachoff said. “Last year was definitely the worst, but we also had a record number of acreage burned.”

What is Cal Fire's emergency fund?

Tolmachoff said Cal Fire has a budget of about $3 billion for day-to-day operations. Separate from that is the emergency fund — for fires that can’t be put out through an initial attack, might require an incident command team and take more than 24 hours to handle. 

Tolmachoff said the emergency fund pays for things like unplanned overtime and extra response equipment like aircraft and water tenders. Some years the agency hits its emergency fund budget; most years it goes over.

Last year (July 2020-June 2021), the state budgeted $373 million for its emergency fund, which ended up being about $900 million short, according to a report from the legislative analyst’s office. 

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“Some years, like last year, were definitely not expected,” Tolmachoff said. “Those are the types of years you just cannot plan for when it comes to a budget.” 

Rising costs becoming a trend

Five of the seven largest fires in state history were in 2020, so it makes sense to see an unusually high price tag on the response. However, it also follows a consistent trend of California spending higher amounts over recent years to contain large wildfires. 

From 2000 to 2014, the emergency fund's expenses only once exceeded $500 million in a fiscal year. Since 2015, they’ve broken the half-billion mark every year, according to Cal Fire data. 

For this year (July 2021-June 2022), the state has allocated $604 million for the Cal Fire emergency fund. Costs were about $137 million in July, Tolmachoff said. 

"I can definitely say we are on track for a costly year," Tolmachoff said. "We aren’t even into what is, historically, the worst months of fire season (September and October), so we have a way to go."

According to the report from the analyst’s office, the amount budgeted for the emergency fund is an estimate, based in part on the average costs of large firefighting incidents over the last five years. The report notes the federal government typically covers about 75% of California's allowable costs associated with putting out large fires. 

More land burning means more money spent

So what’s driving the higher costs in recent years? A big part of it is the increasing acreage wildfires are burning in California, Tolmachoff said. Other factors like inflation and growing costs of technology contribute.

“Some of the tools that we use now, such as the large air tankers, didn’t exist back then, and they are very expensive to operate,” Tolmachoff said. 

Only once in the last two decades has the annual emergency fund cost come in under $100 million — in 2010-2011. 

“That was the last year we had a decent rainy season,” Tolmachoff said. 

This summer, fire-friendly conditions continue to fuel the Dixie Fire and others. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 95% of California is experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought. 

In a video posted to the agency's Facebook page, Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire assistant deputy director, said more than 910,000 acres have burned since January 2021.

"(That's) a 233% increase in the acres burned for this time of year compared to last," Berlant said. "And last year we all know ended with over 4.2 million acres burned, a record setting year. So hopefully this is not a trend that will continue."

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Matt Brannon covers politics, the criminal justice system and breaking news for the Record Searchlight. Follow him on Twitter @MattBrannon_RS. Support local coverage and keep up with the North State for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.