Four San Diego-area firefighting agencies will receive five-, six- and seven-figure state grants to help them fund their wildfire prevention and preparedness programs, officials announced Monday.
The monetary outlays, part of nearly $138 million in funding for 105 local fire-safety projects across California, enable public safety agencies to reduce the risk of wildfire through fuel reduction, emergency planning and fire-prevention education, according to Cal Fire. "This year, wildfires have once again been extremely severe and damaging, which only highlights our continued need to perform more community- based fire-prevention projects," Cal Fire Chief Thomas Porter said. "Our wildfire and forest strategy includes funding these types of fire-prevention projects to reduce the severity of wildfires and harden our communities."