TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Kern County, he essentially cut through any bureaucratic red tape and immediately freed up the equipment and other resources needed to battle the two wildfires that have been ravaging the county this week.

Even before the declaration, the state was directing resources to the area, said Kelly Huston, assistant secretary for the California Emergency Management Agency. Now the state can contract services and order supplies without going through a bid process or other hiccups that could slow down the flow of resources to the Bull Fire in Riverkern and the West Fire near Tehachapi.

Where does the money come from to pay for all this? Out of the state's general fund. Schwarzenegger can take money from any place in the budget and apply it toward emergency assistance, Huston said.

A large chunk of that money will be paid back, on both the state and local levels, by federal Fire Management Assistance Grants, Huston said. Those grants will pay 75 percent of the response costs to any government agency that provides assistance.

Huston said the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides the grants.

"If the fire is beyond our ability to handle from a financial standpoint, then the federal government steps in," Huston said.

As for what the final financial tally of the Bull and West fires will come to, Huston said it's far too early to tell. The state has already coordinated the rollout of strike teams -- each of which is comprised of five engines with three people per engine -- helicopters, bulldozers and other equipment.

The governor declared the state of emergency Tuesday after the Kern County Board of Supervisors asked him after they proclaimed a local emergency. Huston said that's typically how the process works. There are circumstances where the governor can declare an emergency without the local governing body first doing so, but that's rare, Huston said.

One thing unclear in the declaration is whether the state will provide reimbursement in addition to the federal government, said Georgianna Armstrong, emergency services manager for Kern County. Usually an emergency declaration would contain a reference to the California Disaster Assistance Act, which provides state financial assistance for recovery efforts.

There was no mention of the act in Tuesday's declaration and Armstrong said she was trying to find out if the county would in fact be getting that assistance.