Governor Newsom cuts fire budget, Cal Fire funding by $100 million months before California’s deadly wildfires
A review of last year’s California state budget shows California Governor Gavin Newsom cut funding for wildfires and forest resilience by more than $100 million.
Budgetsigned in June and covering the 2024-25 fiscal year, it eliminated $101 million from seven “fire and forest resilience” programs, according to a Newsweek report.
Fires in California, responsible for the destruction of more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area, are still not contained.
FIRES IN CALIFORNIA ravaged LOS ANGELES COUNTY, KILLED 5 PEOPLE AND THREATENED THOUSANDS OF HOMES
Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
Cal Fire reduced spending by $5 million on fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by California National Guardstated in the report.
LA FIRE ISSUES ALARM ABOUT BUDGET CUTS AFFECTING WILDFIRE RESPONSE: NOTE
Other changes:
- $28 million cut from more state protections that increase wildfire resilience
- $12 million in cuts from a “home hardening” experiment that would protect homes from wildfires
- $8 million cut for monitoring and research, mostly dedicated to Cal Fire and state universities
- $4 million cut from the Forest Heritage Program, which encourages landowners to manage their properties
- $3 million cut from funding for the Interagency Forest Data Center
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, surveys the damage in Pacific Palisades with Nick Schuler of Cal Fire on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Newsom’s communications director, Izzy Gardon, called the budget cuts “a ridiculous lie,” in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday night.
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“The governor has doubled the size of our firefighting force, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet, and increased the state’s forest management tenfold since he took office,” she wrote. “Facts matter.”
The Palisades Fire ravages the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Friday, January 10, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher)
His office provided statistics relating to overall increases in spending and staffing over the years since he took office in 2019, in contrast to commenting on the latest cuts.
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Cal Fire did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday at 8 p.m.
