Brown tries to speed up recovery in Wine Country

SACRAMENTO » Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday issued an executive order aimed at speeding up recovery efforts in areas devastated by a spate of ferocious wildfires, including Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties.

The order includes provisions that suspend planning and zoning requirements and state fees for manufactured homes and mobile home parks to help displaced residents in need of housing.

In addition, the order to allow facilities overseen by the state Department of Public Health to remain open, extends a prohibition on price gouging, allows for expedited hiring of additional personnel for emergency and recovery operations, and strengthens coordination between state agencies on environmental restoration.

Tasting rooms in hardhit Wine Country also will be allowed to relocate under the order.

The executive order follows a state of emergency declared last week by Brown for the counties of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, and Yuba. President Donald Trump also signed a major disaster declaration to support the local and state response to the fires, which have killed 42 and destroyed thousands of homes.

As of Thursday morning, the biggest of the blazes, the Nuns fire, had consumed 54,423 acres and was 82 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. The 51,624- acre Atlas fire was 85 percent contained and the 36,432-acre Tubbs fire was 92 percent contained.