Funds ‘found’ to fight fires

Sunday, June 4, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Dousing a potential political fire, the Guinn administration has "found" more than $9 million in disaster funds available to fight range and forest fires this summer.

Last month, after state and federal officials said the danger of major range and forest fires will be high this summer, Gov. Kenny Guinn expressed concern that there might not be enough money in the state budget to battle those blazes.

But the Guinn administration has discovered a $9.2 million disaster account that the state attorney general's office says can be used to cover firefighting costs.

"This is good news for the state,'' said Steve George, Guinn's press secretary. "This money will be available if the governor declares or anticipates an emergency."

State Budget Director Andrew Clinger added: "This will give us some breathing room."

The Forestry Division, the major state agency responsible for controlling range and forest fires, receives $1 million annually for fire suppression. But the division needed an extra $2.5 million last summer to cover its costs.

That money came from a $12 million emergency fund administered by the Legislative Interim Finance Committee. That fund, however, could be down to about $50,000 by July 1, raising the possibility that there might not be enough money available for this summer's firefighting costs.

Last winter's heavy rains contributed to strong vegetation growth throughout the state, increasing the fire danger this summer.

After Guinn said he was worried that there might not be enough money available in the legislative fund to carry the state through the summer, some suggested that a special session of the Legislature might have to be convened to allocate money if a major fire occurred.

Clinger, though, found the special disaster account - started in 1997 with $4 million, an amount that has since more than doubled - tucked away in a previously unnoticed corner of the state's $5.7 billion biennial budget. He then asked the state attorney general's office whether the fund could be used to fight fires.

The resulting legal opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Randal Munn, said it would be within Guinn's discretion to declare a disaster to gain access to the account. While a formal declaration of a disaster would not be mandatory, Munn said, the governor would need approval from the state Board of Examiners, which he heads, and from the Legislative Interim Finance Committee.

The disaster fund can be used for "any emergency that saves lives, protects public health or public property," Clinger said. "This pretty well opens it up."

George emphasized, however, that there would have to be a "dire emergency" to tap the $9.2 million fund.