06/30/2008 Print Version |
WHEREAS lightning strikes
have ignited about 40 wildfires within the County of Plumas beginning June 22,
2008, and the wildfires have burned over 12,000 acres;
and
WHEREAS on June 28, 2008, the
County of
Plumas declared a local
emergency, based on the fires' continuing and imminent threat to persons and
property; and
WHEREAS a major wildfire is
burning within the County of Kern beginning June 28, 2008, and has burned over
2,500 acres; and
WHEREAS on June 29, 2008, the
County of Kern declared a local emergency, based on the fires' continuing and
imminent threat to persons and property, and requested that I proclaim a state
of emergency and request a Presidential Disaster Declaration;
and
WHEREAS the wildfires in the
counties of Kern and Plumas are being driven by dry conditions and high winds,
and these conditions are expected to continue; and
WHEREAS these wildfires are
causing imminent danger to residential and commercial property and structures,
including the need for evacuations of people and livestock in the County of Kern; and
WHEREAS the circumstances of
these wildfires, by reason of their magnitude, are beyond the control of the
services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and
county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or
regions to combat; and
WHEREAS under the
provisions of section 8558(b) of the California Government Code, I find that
conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to
the wildfires in the counties of Kern and Plumas.
NOW, THEREFORE, I,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of the State of
California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state
Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and
in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to
exist within the counties of Kern and Plumas.
IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED that all agencies of the state government
utilize and employ state personnel, equipment and facilities for the performance
of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the Office of
Emergency Services (OES) and the State Emergency Plan, and that OES provide
local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster
Assistance Act.
I FURTHER
DIRECT that as soon as
hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of
State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this
proclamation.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
Great Seal of the State of
California to be affixed this 30th Day of June
2008.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of
California
ATTEST:
DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State
