Governor Delivers Firefighting Funds

Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday handed over two checks totaling more than $1 million to the Ventura County Fire Department for emergency costs incurred fighting the wildfires that raced across the county within the last month.

At a ceremony in Burbank, the governor gave out some of the $18.3 million in state and federal emergency assistance money earmarked for Southern California areas ravaged by fire. The six fire departments that first responded to the fires were also the first to receive the aid, said Sandi Wells, spokeswoman for the county Fire Department.

The first blaze, the Green Meadow fire, started Oct. 26 and burned for 12 days.

Along with fire chiefs from departments in Los Angeles and Orange counties, Ventura County Fire Chief George Lund accepted two checks from the governor and spoke briefly at the ceremony. Lund received a federal assistance check for $784,200 and a check from the state for $261,400.

“We’re still determining what additional cost we’ve incurred,” Lund said. “We’re hoping that there will be a second installment in aid.”

Monday’s payment covered a little more than half the total costs incurred by the Fire Department in fighting the four fires that burned 73,000 acres in Ventura County, Lund said.

The Fire Department will send an additional request for assistance when it finishes adding up the total cost of battling the blazes, he said.

Estimating that the total would probably not be more than $2 million, Lund said the department had already exhausted its $1 million emergency fund.

Lund commended the quick aid sent to the county by the state and federal government. He said they were trying to correct sluggish responses to disasters in the past.

President Clinton speeded up the process by sending California $15 million almost immediately after the fires.

Clinton’s quick response helped prod Wilson into acting just as quickly, Lund said.