Top U.S. House Democrat Nancy Pelosi and five other members of Congress plan to tour wildfire-ravaged Northern California as families and communities begin the long process of rebuilding.
Pelosi, of San Francisco, will spend Saturday touring the fire zones and meeting with officials and victims alongside Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, the hardest-hit areas in the fires. U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman, Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren and Mark DeSaulnier will attend some of the events.
Their visit comes almost three weeks after fires sparked on Oct. 8, eventually causing roughly 100,000 people to evacuate, killing at least 42, and destroying 8,900 buildings. At their peak, nearly two dozen fires raged and took more than a week to contain. Officials estimate more than $1 billion in losses but haven't provided a hard number.
President Donald Trump approved Gov. Jerry Brown's requests for federal disaster relief, and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris are backing legislation to get federal money out the door easier to help with firefighting. Harris, Feinstein and Brown visited the fire zone two weeks ago.
Today, Brown declared a Day of Remembrance for the people who died in the fires.
Today we mourn everyone we lost in the Northern CA Fires. #DayofRemembrance pic.twitter.com/Bb3tiMtbBW
— Jerry Brown (@JerryBrownGov) October 28, 2017
State officials said this week cleanup could last into early 2018, preventing many homeowners from rebuilding until then.