[Page H5038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, just over 2 years ago, the Carr fire 
burned through Shasta County, taking the lives of eight people and 
burning nearly 230,000 acres.
  Now, I am here to report, in the same county of Shasta, the Zogg fire 
has broken out over this weekend, burning uncontained. As of this 
morning, 146 structures have been destroyed, three people have lost 
their lives, over 40,000 acres burned and counting.
  Cal Fire and Shasta County--with the assistance of many other units 
across the State--are working hard to extinguish the Zogg fire, but a 
lack of firefighting personnel and equipment has made this a difficult 
one to contain. It is not an unfamiliar story.
  Firefighters, first responders, and Californians alike are struggling 
to grapple with the 27 major fires that are burning across our State 
right now. With no rain in sight, the end of these disasters is not 
near. There is a dire need for a better way to contain these fires, or 
better yet, completely prevent them in the first place.
  Until we increase the pace and scale of forest management and other 
tools that we use in the West, these never-ending fires will continue 
to destroy all of our land.

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