![]() Forest Service Firefighter David Ruhl, 38, died while responding to the Frog Fire in Modoc National Forest in the northeast part of California. "Instead of basically maintaining and restoring and making our forest more resilient … we're essentially one large fire department," Vilsack said. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service, called on Congress to give the Forest Service the ability to use disaster funding to fight the most catastrophic fires. In 10 years, the Forest Service could be spending 67 percent of its budget on firefighting, the report said. Forest Service used to typically spend about 16 percent of its budget on fire suppression, but this year that number is 52 percent. ![]() The wildfires are also burning through budgets. So far this year, the department has responded to over 4,200 wildfires - about 1,500 more than the average for the same period, Cal Fire said. There were at least 300 new fires in California just last week, Cal Fire said. "I have a lot of neighbors, I'm concerned for their houses," Sanders said. On Tuesday, he said it looks like his house will be spared. Rick Sanders was among those who refused to leave his home Monday as the Rocky Fire spread. While normal temperatures Tuesday were expected to give firefighters an opportunity to make progress battling fires, thunderstorms predicted for Wednesday raised risks that lightning strikes could spark more fires. California is in the fourth year of a historic drought, resulting in bone-dry, tinderbox conditions that allow fires to spread quickly, Berlant said. More than 10,000 firefighters were battling 23 major wildfires across California, mostly in the northern part of the state, on Tuesday. Photos: Enormous Rocky Fire Spreads in California
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