California's National Forests To Close Ahead Of Labor Day Weekend

LOS ANGELES, CA — National forests across California will be closed headed into the Labor Day weekend in an effort to head off fire-related catastrophes. Extreme drought has created tinderbox conditions, and more than 15,000 firefighters across the state are already battling 15 major wildfires.

Starting at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, all but one national forest in the state will be closed under an order issued by the U.S. Forest Service. All forests in the Pacific Southwest region will remain closed through Sept. 17.

"We do not take this decision lightly but this is the best choice for public safety," Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien said. "It is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend when so many people enjoy our national forests."

It was last Labor Day weekend that the Bobcat fire tore through the Angeles National Forest, burning 115,796 acres. This year, following the driest July-to-June period on record, conditions are much worse, authorities said. Each day across, the state firefighters are tackling dozens of new fires on average.

The U.S. Forest Service issued a statement explaining the decision:

"Although the potential for large fires and risk to life and property is not new, what is different is that we are facing: (a) record level fuel and fire conditions; (b) fire behavior that is beyond the norm of our experience and models such as large, quick runs in the night; (c) significantly limited initial attack resources, suppression resources, and Incident Command Teams to combat new fire starts and new large fires; and (d) no predicted weather relief for an extended period of time into the late fall."

The closure is aimed as much at protecting visitors as it is at reducing the risk of fire, authorities said. The forest service wants to minimize the likelihood of visitors becoming trapped in a national forest during a fire, decrease the potential for new fires and enhance firefighter and public safety by limiting exposure to COVID-19 that might occur during public evacuations, according to the fire service.

"More than 6,800 wildfires have burned 1.7 million acres across all jurisdictions in California, and the National Wildfire Preparedness Level has been at PL5 since July 14, 2021, only the third time in the past 20 years that the nation has reached PL5 by mid-July," the forest service said in a statement.

The only national forest in California not covered by the order is the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which is not in the Pacific Southwest region. The forest service took the unusual step of closing forests across the state earlier in August as several fires already burning for weeks ate up hundreds of thousands of acres and forced entire towns to evacuate.

City News Service contributed to this report.