U.S. Forest Service joining CAL FIRE and partners for 2015 Wildfire Awareness Week

Release Date: May 4, 2015

Contact: Stanton Florea at (707) 562-9014
Twitter: @R5_Fire_News #WildfireAwarenessWeek

Officials urging Californians to be prepared as drought conditions could mean an active wildfire season

VALLEJO, Calif., May 4, 2015 — The U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies will be joining CAL FIRE for a series of events across the state to celebrate Wildfire Awareness Week (May 3-9). With drought conditions affecting large parts of the state, including most of California’s 18 national forests, an active fire season is increasingly likely.

Randy Moore, Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, will be joining CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott to kick off Wildfire Awareness Week at the site of the devastating King Fire that burned over 97,000 acres on the Eldorado National Forest and other jurisdictions last fall. The Eldorado National Forest has been chosen for a large landscape-scale fire prevention project that’s part of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the Pacific Southwest Region, Shawna Legarza, will attend Wildfire Awareness Week events at or near seven national forests across California this week. “This is a great opportunity to get out and remind the public of the important things they can do to prepare themselves for wildfires that may threaten their communities,” said Legarza.

The 2015 fire season has gotten off to a relatively average start but is expected to increase in activity over the next few months. So far this year, 122 wildfires have burned a total of 2,277 acres on national forest lands in California. U.S. Forest Service firefighters and cooperating departments have successfully kept numerous wildfires starts from growing larger.

Saturday, May 2 was National Wildfire Preparedness Day sponsored by Firewise and the Fire Adapted Communities Network. U.S. Forest Service personnel joined local Fire Safe Councils and other groups at several events in forest communities across California. For more information on how to make your home and community adapted to wildfire, visit: www.fireadapted.org.

For online campfire permits and other fire prevention information, visit the California Wildfire Coordinating Group’s wildfire prevention website at: www.preventwildfireca.org. Available at the same site is information on the award-winning “One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire” campaign. This interagency effort is designed to raise awareness about human-caused fires. Human-caused wildfires, particularly those related to vehicles, are a leading cause of wildfires in California.

The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to State and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.

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