Lieutenant Governor Signs Declaration of Emergency

Fire officials say their primary efforts have been to protect homes—but they’re hoping to make more progress on containing the wildland blaze.  

At a Capitol press conference, Ken Pimlott with the state fire agency called “Cal Fire” says the weather hasn’t cooperated —dry windy conditions have hampered early efforts to fight the fire from above.  Pimlott says authorities foresaw a fire like this given the dry conditions this year: 

“This scenario just happens to be where the weather factors lined up. We’ve got significant dried fuel conditions, this particular area has a very large component of heavier fuels like timber…”

Federal, state and local resources are being used to fight the blaze. Governor Schwarzenegger, who is in Europe, is getting hourly briefings.   State fire officials would not comment on the cause of the fire, but say investigators are already on the scene.