California joins alliance with 12 U.S. states, Canadian areas to fight fires

Days after California announced that it will form a “West Coast health alliance” with Oregon and Washington, officials on Friday said the Golden State will also join a collaborative agreement with 12 other states, provinces and territories geared toward the prevention and suppression of wildfires.

- HAYLEY SMITH

NOAH BERGER Associated Press RESIDENTS work to stop the 6-5 fire in Tuolumne County from spreading among houses last week.

The Northwest Wildland Fire Fighting Compact enables its U.S. and Canadian members to share firefighting resources and technology when blazes exceed the capacity of a single jurisdiction. The partnership comes as California grapples with larger, faster and more frequent fires fueled by climate change — and as the Trump administration cuts the staff and budget of the U.S. Forest Service, the largest federal firefighting entity in the nation.