Wet winter may delay — but not deter — 2023 fire season; ‘We must not let our guard down’
LA TimesA person walks among wildflowers in Rancho Palos Verdes on Monday. The early outlook for the 2023 fire season arrived as California continues to deal with fallout from this year’s wet winter, including major flooding and record-deep snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada. “Don’t let the rain and the snow fool you,” said Joe Tyler, director and fire chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The state’s $2.7-billion multiyear Wildfire Resilience Program is also “starting to see results” from prescribed burn activities in 42 state parks, about 1,200 fire resilience projects and other similar efforts, said Jessica Morse, deputy secretary for forest and wildland resilience with the California Natural Resources Agency. Federal officials are also preparing for this year’s fire season, said Jaime Gamboa, director of fire and aviation management with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region.