Budget. Reporter consumed over 1 million acres in california. Caused billions of dollars of damage and put pressure on 1. 8 billion budget. Approaching half the agency as entire budget halfway through the fiscal year. 275 million more than cal fire set aside as emergency fund. We always watch budget closely. Be fiscally responsible. But its clear in the climate were living in, we have to have the resources to battle the fires. Stay focused and be able to respond to changing environment were experiencing in california. Reporter says its working closely will the department of finance and legislature to keep Funds Available for fire lines to be staffed. On track for new record. Compared to past three budget years. Complicating the process is how the fire season, compared to four years ago, is running longer. Fire seasons today on average 75 days longer than they were. We have to change our mindset. One of the reasons weve invested additional money in staffing yearround and work we do ahea
Season isnt. Rolling into 2018 now as fires are still burning right now. Im dan ashley. Im dion lim in for ama daetz. This is unusual year. 2017, cal fire battled more than 7,000 fires. Thats correct fire. About 50 more than last year, pretty average year. Burned more than twice as many acres. Biggest fire in modern state history, thomas fire, still burning. 91 contained and not expected to grow any more. Destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in little over three weeks. And we can never forget north bay wildfires. Late sunday night in october, merged into six massive fires, killing 43 people in napa, sonoma, lake and mendocino counties. Took 23 days to fully contain and fire season isnt over. Reporter david louis shows you what the cal fire is doing now and what its doing to budget. Reporter consumed over 1 million acres in california. Caused billions of dollars of damage and put pressure on 1. 8 billion budget. Approaching half the agency as entire budget halfway through the fiscal year