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NSPR speaks with a CalMatters reporter about Cal Fire’s struggle to retain firefighters as it confronts an ongoing threat of megafires. Also, high temperatures are bringing concerns for heat-related illness in the North State, and California lawmakers are investigating the state’s high gasoline prices.
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Officials in Butte County have used their new evacuation zone map multiple times this fire season and the county sheriff warns of the potential for devastating wildfires. Also, a journalist investigates the mental health of firefighters in California, and gun owners in the state would be required to carry insurance under a bill introduced in the Legislature.
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A fire in Tehama County northwest of Corning destroyed 10 structures and is threatening more than 100 others. Also, Cal Fire-Butte County is focusing on the communities of Cohasset and Forest Ranch as the summer fire season approaches, and disaster has robbed Paradise High School’s class of 2022 of a sense of normalcy.
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Cal Fire faces a mental health crisis. As wildfires intensify, thousands of California firefighters carry a heavy load of trauma and grief.
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Putting prescribed fire on the ground benefits the environment and can help make communities safer from wildfire. The practice takes training and knowledge, but it can be learned like any skill.
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NSPR has Part 2 of ‘Fire Returned,’ a series on cultural and prescribed burning in Butte County. Also, fire officials warn that elevated fire conditions in the North State mean residents should stay alert, and survivors of sexual harassment at the state Legislature are calling for changes to the way their claims are investigated.
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California is in a drought — and not just a drought of water, but also a drought of fire. But how is that possible when the state has been experiencing more large and destructive fires than ever in recent years? Well, many fire experts say these extreme fires are largely due to a lack of fire, through a century of wildfire suppression and not getting enough deliberate or “good” fire on the ground.
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The Estes fire that sparked during critical fire weather conditions Monday is now 80% contained and around 5 acres. Also, Assemblymember Robert Rivas announced that he secured enough votes to become the next speaker of the California Assembly, and a new bill intended to keep pedestrians safe is advancing in the California state Legislature.
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A wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city on behalf of a man fatally shot by Chico police and a security guard can proceed toward trial. Also, community members will soon have a chance to give input on how the state plans to use grant funding to aid recovery efforts from 2020 wildfires, and a law requiring corporations to include a certain number of women on their boards has been ruled unconstitutional by a California judge.
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Cal Fire has been facing staffing shortages for years. While most municipal fire stations have three firefighters per engine, Cal Fire has an average of 2.7, requiring employees to work forced overtime and causing severe mental health issues.