Forest Service Closes All 18 National Forests In California Due To 'Unprecedented And Historic Fire Conditions'

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — All of California's 18 national forests have been closed due to the "unprecedented and historic fire conditions" across the state, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.

Eight of the state's national forests – including the Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland and Sequoia national forests – were closed Monday because of the increased fire danger. An increase in wildfire activity since then prompted an additional 10 national forest closures.

"The number of large fires and extreme fire behavior we are seeing across the state is historic," Randy Moore, regional forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, said in a statement. "These temporary closures are necessary to protect the public and our firefighters, and we will keep them in place until conditions improve and we are confident that national forest visitors can recreate safely."

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The closed forests include: Eldorado, Klamath, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Six Rivers, Plumas, Shasta-Trinity, Tahoe, and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. U.S. Forest Service officials say they will reevaluate the closures daily as conditions change.

According to CalFire, 14,000 firefighters are battling 28 major wildfires across the state. Despite cooler conditions Wednesday, two of those wildfires – the Bobcat Fire and the El Dorado Fire – continue to burn in Southern California.

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