(Sacramento, CA) June 13, 2024 – Today, the State Legislature approved Dr. Jasmeet Bains’ (D-Delano) proposal to staff CAL FIRE year-round as part of the 2025-26 State Budget.
“Laying off thousands of firefighters annually is irresponsible and dangerous - we saw one of the most destructive fires in state history rip through L.A. in January, weeks after we kicked 3,000 highly trained and qualified firefighters off payroll,” said Dr. Bains.
The change will bring CAL FIRE’s staffing levels up to 9,000 year-round firefighters.
No Republicans in the State Legislature supported the bill.
“Republicans agreed with me on the need for better fire prevention and emergency preparation and then voted against the thing that actually does that,” said Dr. Bains.
In January, Dr. Bains proposed the Stop Laying Off Firefighters Act to transition about 3,000 CAL FIRE seasonal firefighters into full-time staff. Dr. Bains’ effort received approval from the Assembly Natural Resources Committee in April.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), CAL FIRE has more than 350 fully staffed fire engines during the summer months, but winter layoffs due to state budgeting take nearly 200 engines out of service because of a lack of personnel.
The Kern County Fire Department has a $39 million annual contract with CAL FIRE, by far the largest contract in the state, to protect 1.8 million areas of state lands in the county. These acres are divided into fire hazard severity zones, including 646,054 acres with a very high risk, 776,424 acres with a high risk, and 401,448 acres with a moderate risk. The budget deal means millions of additional resources will flow to contract counties like Kern.
“The Trump Administration continues to withhold $40 billion of disaster aid for the L.A. fires, DOGE fired more than 1,000 federal firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service this year, and Trump’s decision to federalize the National Guard has pulled hundreds of California personnel away from firefighting activities right as we need them most. We are on our own,” said Dr. Bains.
Historically, ‘fire season’ in California has been between May and October. CAL FIRE’s most recent data shows an alarming increase in the frequency of fires, with more than 450,000 fire incidents reported in 2015 and nearly 600,000 in 2023. That is a thirty percent increase over eight years. Of the twenty largest and most destructive wildfires in state history, the majority have occurred in just the last ten years.
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Dr. Jasmeet Bains represents the 35th Assembly District in Kern County, including the cities of Bakersfield, Delano, Wasco, Arvin, Shafter, and McFarland.