Governor Newsom proclaims Wildfire Preparedness Week as state doubles down on wildfire readiness 

At a hangar in Sacramento, the Governor joined CAL FIRE Chief Joe Tyler and firefighting personnel to celebrate the second C-130H aircraft added to CAL FIRE’s arsenal. (Photo credit: Governor’s office)

Expanding the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet
California became the first state in the nation to own, operate, and deploy C-130H airtankers for wildfire suppression — and the fleet keeps growing. The state now operates three C-130H airtankers, with a fourth expected to enter service soon, as part of a planned fleet of seven. These large-capacity, highly specialized aircraft deliver significant volumes of fire retardant in a single mission, enhancing CAL FIRE’s ability to protect communities and natural resources. These new C-130Hs will be strategically located at CAL FIRE bases throughout the state to mobilize when needed, adding to the helicopters, other aircraft, and firefighters ready to protect Californians. This follows California’s leadership in utilizing innovation and technology to fight fires smarter, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), satellites, and more for wildfire detection, projection, and suppression.

Eyes on the fire
UC San Diego and the State of California partnered to develop ALERTCalifornia, a statewide network of over a thousand cameras to identify and monitor wildfires. ALERTCalifornia AI-Camera’s have detected over 900 fires on state lands before 911 calls were made, and were named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023. 

Real-time intel
The first-in-the-nation Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS) provides real-time aerial intelligence, advanced fire mapping, and predictive analytics to support wildfire response for every California County. Flying over 2,000 missions since the start of the program in 2019, FIRIS along with CAL FIRE’s aerial intelligence platform, Intel 641, are critical assets to help identify real-time fire mapping within minutes of ignition. 

Forecasting the threat
California’s Wildfire Forecast & Threat Intelligence Integration Center (WFTIIC) is a first-of-its-kind center serving as the state’s central hub for coordinating wildfire forecasting, weather intelligence, and fire threat assessments.

Mapping wildfire risk
Last year, California launched LiDAR (Light detection and ranging) three-dimensional maps of the entire state. LiDAR maps are the gold standard for finding forest and vegetation information, helping decision makers get a clear picture of the fuel load and wildfire risks. 

World’s first redwood forest observatory 
California installed the first redwood forest observatory—two research towers in Jackson Demonstration State Forest that measure the inflow and outflow of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between redwoods and their environment. The flux towers provide a real-time understanding of how redwoods respond to changing environmental conditions, wildfire, and management. Within the next year, aggregated measurements will be processed for public use.

New strike team strengthens Los Angeles response
Cal OES assigned five new Type-6 fire engines to the Los Angeles City Fire Department, forming a strike team that can respond quickly in both urban and wildland areas. Type-6 engines are the smallest, most maneuverable units in the state fleet—typically four-wheel drive, carrying 300 gallons of water, and designed to reach steep, narrow, or remote locations. The engines are state-owned and prepositioned with the Los Angeles Fire Department through California’s Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System. This means they can respond immediately to local incidents and deploy to other regions when mutual aid is requested. Cal OES manages a fleet of more than 270 state-owned fire engines assigned to over 60 local agencies statewide, ensuring every community can access coordinated emergency resources when disasters strike. Since 2019, Governor Newsom and the Legislature have invested in expanding and replacing these mutual aid engines to sustain all-hazards readiness across California.

California cuts red tape and accelerates forest management

Under Governor Newsom, California has advanced a world-class forest management strategy: streamlined forest management projects, and expanded use of prescribed burns. Here’s what that work is designed to accomplish:

• Reduces near‑term wildfire danger in high‑risk communities.

• Protects lives, homes, and critical infrastructure.

• Improves forest health and watershed resilience in the face of a hotter, drier climate.

• Creates a bridge to a durable, long‑term regulatory framework for forest health and fuels reduction that will outlast any single emergency order.

The California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, created by Governor Newsom, catalyzes cooperation among a coalition of State, Federal, Local, and Tribal experts to partner in preventing catastrophic wildfires and creating more sustainable natural environments. Collectively, Task Force partners treated more than 3.7 million acres across state, federal, and local jurisdictions and nearly doubled the amount of prescribed burn treatments since 2021, treating roughly 200,000 acres annually. 

Supporting tribal stewardship has been impactful for forest management, after Governor Newsom signed legislation, in March 2025 the Karuk Tribe and the California Natural Resources Agency entered into a landmark cultural burning agreement. 

Recently, Governor Newsom announced 300 wildfire projects across 57,000 acres had been fast-tracked in 300 days. These fast-tracked projects build on the over 2,000 landscape and fire health projects completed by the state. Following an emergency proclamation on wildfire-prone forests,  California cut red tape and maintained environmental safeguards to streamline processes and projects. 

Here are some notable projects seeing a major impact on the ground:

• 600+ acre fuels reduction collaborative project protecting communities in the Los Angeles area near the Palisades footprint led by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

• 450-acre Prosper Ridge Community Wildfire Resilience Project that is incorporating cultural burning and prescribed fire for community protection in Humboldt County

• Nearly 3,000-acre Scott Valley/Callahan Fuels Reduction Project to restore ecosystem health and protect vulnerable rural communities in Siskiyou County

California leads the world in mutual aid and global partnerships 

California is home to the largest and most advanced fire and rescue mutual aid system in the world with over 260 Cal OES mutual aid fire engines and water tenders assigned to local government and Tribal fire departments statewide. Under the Governor’s leadership and built on the enduring principle of neighbors helping neighbors, the Governor has by strategically deployed fire and emergency resources ahead of anticipated weather threats throughout the state. California invested in 2025, $425 million to support local fire agencies’ mutual aid efforts to respond to emergencies statewide. 

California’s committed to leading wildfire preparedness and subnational partnerships across the globe:

• The Northwest Wildland Fire Fighting Compact (2025): members are committed to collaborating to prevent and suppress wildfires. The 13 western states and Canadian provinces apart of the compact also exchange firefighting resources, technology and expertise. Members include Alberta, Yukon Territory, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Hawaii.
   
• Brazil (2025 MOU): At COP30, Governor Newsom announced a partnership with the State of Pará to strengthen cooperation on wildfire prevention and response — enhancing forest monitoring, identifying areas most at risk, and sharing research and expertise to improve firefighting and emergency management.
   
• British Columbia (2023 MOU): Mutual wildfire assistance is delivering results. British Columbia sent incident management experts to support California’s Palisades Fire in 2025, while CAL FIRE deployed personnel during B.C.’s 2025 fire season. These exchanges established a lasting framework for cross-border wildfire support.
   
• France (2025): California signed a Protocol with the French Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Crisis Management. Current discussions are prioritizing wildfire management and security. 

Trump weakens wildfire preparedness while California continues to lead 

President Trump has made dramatic cuts to wildfire readiness across the United States and especially in rural and high-fire-risk California communities. 

• In the final year of the Biden administration, the Forest Service treated more than 4 million acres of hazardous vegetation to reduce wildfire risk. Under Trump, that number plummeted to 2.6 million — a drop of nearly 1.5 million acres heading into what experts are warning could be an extreme fire season.

• Trump slashed prescribed burns by nearly half, dropping from over 1.6 million acres in 2024 to roughly 900,000 acres in 2025.

•  Trump eliminated a decades-old fire risk assessment program — a critical tool that helped firefighters identify dead and dying trees and assess their potential to fuel catastrophic fires.

• Trump gutted wildfire science, closing six of California’s eight U.S. Forest Service research facilities in some of the state’s most fire-prone areas — Anderson, Chico, Mt. Shasta, Hat Creek, Fresno, and Fort Bragg — eliminating the data and analysis that drives smarter fuel treatments and post-fire recovery.

• Trump has already cut 10% of all U.S. Forest Service positions nationwide — and 25% of positions outside of direct wildfire suppression — reducing the capacity to staff federal Incident Command Teams and implement wildfire safety projects across California’s 20 National Forests.

• Trump has slashed the National Weather Service (NWS) so severely that some offices can no longer provide life-saving warnings around the clock — and cut snow survey funding critical to water supply forecasting and flood risk management. Cuts to NWS have been so bad that some offices can’t even provide warnings 24/7.

• Trump has proposed eliminating annual block grants that support state, tribal, private landowner, and urban forestry programs, which is funding that directly supports wildfire prevention partners across California.

• Trump is also turning his back on California communities trying to rebuild more resilient after wildfires. In April 2025, Trump cut a $35 million grant for Napa to reduce wildfire threats and build back more resilience after devastating fires. The Trump administration said the program was wasteful and ineffective. California is actively challenging the Trump administration to restore critical funds for the people of Napa, including 86 other California hazard mitigation projects.