On July 26, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Butte and Tehama counties because of the Park Fire near Chico. Newsom analyzes a briefing map with CAL FIRE. Photo courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - On July 26, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Butte and Tehama counties due to the Park Fire, the state’s largest fire to date in 2024.

As the Park Fire continued to grow and threaten communities, Newsom visited CAL FIRE’s Incident Command Post on July 27 and surveyed ongoing firefighting efforts to protect communities, according to Newsom’s office. The Park Fire started near Chico.

Following the July 27 visit, Newsom announced that the state secured federal assistance for Tehama County to suppress the Park Fire. This is in addition to the federal assistance secured for Butte County.

The proclamation makes additional resources available for response and recovery efforts and supports impacted residents by easing access to unemployment benefits and waiving fees to replace driver’s licenses and records such as marriage and birth certificates.

It also allows the waiver of certain statutes and regulations. Hospitals, adult and senior care facilities, home care organizations and other care facilities impacted by the fires can now continue providing services and, if necessary, providing care to patients or residents displaced from other facilities by the fires.

 On July 27, Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Incident Command Post for the Park Fire, the state’s largest fire of the year. Photo courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

On July 24, the state secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the fire burning in Butte County.

The Fire Management Assistance Grant, which is provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund on cost-share basis, assists local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs. The program, which is administered through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), provides rapid financial assistance to communities impacted by fires. Already this wildfire season, California secured Fire Management Assistance Grants for the Thompson, French and Hawarden fires that burned a total of nearly 5,000 acres.

On July 25, the Park Fire had burned more than 45,000 acres, forcing evacuations of more than 3,500 people. As of July 29, after press time, the fast-moving fire had burned more than 348,000 acres.

Real-time information, including road closures, evacuation maps and centers, is available at fire.ca.gov.

A video of Newsom’s July 27 visit can be downloaded at https://govca.app.box.com/s/nibao84lx4laepg30c8s4a7azlb1bxui.