The Summer of 2018 was the worst fire season ever in California, with over 100 dead nearly 1.9 Million acres burned. Much of that was a result of the Carr Fire in Shasta County and the Camp Fire in Butte County. Although the Carr Fire was not the result of negligence by a utility, blame has fallen on PG&E for causing the Camp Fire. As one of his last acts as Governor, Jerry Brown signed into law SB901, which will require utilities to mitigate future fire danger. At Tuesday nights Redding City Council meeting, the council approved a plan that would funnel $8 Million Dollars from Redding Electric Utility to the fire department allowing it to hire six new firefighters, 12 apprentice firefighters, a fire marshal assistant and two public works personnel who will work on debris removal. REU Director Dan Beans told the council the first two years of the plan are already paid for in the utilities budget, but that there may be rate increases coming to help pay for the positions.
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