MIDDLETOWN, Calif. -- White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's administration is asking Congress to change the way the federal government spends money to fight wildfires.
The call comes after a wildfire sped through Middletown and other parts of rural Lake County, less than 100 miles north of San Francisco, burning largely unchecked since Saturday despite a concentrated firefighting effort. Fueled by drought, it had consumed more than 104 miles but was 30 percent contained Tuesday.
Earnest said that under the current funding system, the Forest Service and parts of the Interior Department are using money "that was originally dedicated to preventing forest fires to actually fight the forest fires."
Earnest said that's a flawed strategy because when less money is devoted to wildfire prevention, it means more will have to be spent on firefighting.
He said Tuesday that the White House has asked Congress to change the funding system so programs that go toward preventing wildfires can be protected, while making sure there are sufficient resources to assist state and local firefighters who are trying to protect lives and property.
The Lake County fire killed Barbara McWilliams, whose body was found late Sunday in her burned-out home after flames kept Lake County sheriff's officials from reaching her.
McWilliams told her caretaker she didn't want to leave her home near Middletown, despite a nearby wildfire. The world traveler and sharp-minded woman with advanced multiple sclerosis said she would be fine.
Jennifer Hittson, the caregiver, told the Press Democrat newspaper in Santa Rosa that she left McWilliams' home about 3 p.m. Saturday. She said she was unaware of the fire's seriousness or how quickly it would grow, even though officers were at that point turning drivers away from California 175, which leads to the Cobb Mountain area where McWilliams lived.
Hittson said she called the sheriff's office twice Saturday and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Sunday, only to be told by dispatchers, "We will get out there when we can."
Hittson said McWilliams could walk slowly and that her hands were weak.
"That I left her there, it haunts me," she said.
Lake County sheriff's Lt. Steve Brooks said in a statement that the fire started at 1:22 p.m. Saturday and that at 1:50 p.m., the fire-protection department asked for help with evacuations.
He said the sheriff's office received a call about an elderly disabled woman at 7:12 p.m., and it responded 15 minutes later but was unable to reach the subdivision. He said dispatch lines were flooded with worried relatives and friends asking for help.
The fire has injured at least four firefighters.
Authorities said 585 homes are known to be destroyed, and that number was expected to rise. About 9,000 homes remain threatened.
Some people still were unaccounted for Tuesday, but authorities said they could be staying with relatives, on vacation, or elsewhere and not affected by the fire.
The Fresno County sheriff's office Tuesday lifted mandatory wildfire evacuation orders for dozens of residents in the small central California communities of Dunlap, Miramonte, and Pinehurst east of Fresno.
For the first time in more than six weeks, firefighters are getting a handle on the fire that now has flames simmering in places. It also has moved away from the Sierra Nevada's giant sequoia trees, some of which are 3,000 years old.
Fresno County is about 300 miles southeast of where the Lake County fire in Northern California is raging.
The combined fires have displaced 23,000 people and are the worst of a dozen wildfires burning in the state.
About 6,400 structures remained threatened with evacuations in Amador and Calaveras counties. A fire there has destroyed 233 homes and outbuildings and damaged a dozen more.
Attempting to contain and control the fire in Lake County are 1,400 personnel from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, state prison camps, community fire departments and wildland firefighters from Colorado.
Most work in 24-hour shifts and only about half are in the field at any time.
"We have multiple fires, so we're all stretched thin," said Robert Michael, the California agency's incident commander for the Lake County fire. "We're starting to get resources reassigned as each fire is starting to get their containment up ... so we all started short, meaning we're just stretched."
Ken Pimlott, director of the fire protection department, who joined Gov. Jerry Brown at a news conference Monday, said the state already has experienced 6,000 fires this year -- 1,500 more than last year. He added, "We don't see an end to fire season for months to come."
Information for this article was contributed by Janie Har, Justin Pritchard, Haven Daley, Elaine Thompson, Don Thompson, Kristin J. Bender, Paul Elias and John Antczak of The Associated Press and by Lee Romney, Paige St. John and Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times.
A Section on 09/16/2015