that's according to congressman jeff denham. rep. jeff denham: this is certainly the biggest fire year in california history. lisa: he is a republican from california, representing part of san joaquin, where residents have not only seen their share of wildfires this year but also the heavy smoke they've caused. denham: i don't think anybody could have predicted this fire year being being as bad as it is but again we can still do a better job of prevention. lisa: for california firefighters it seems the flames they're up against keep getting higher. some thought 2016 was bad. that's when a quarter million acres went up in flames costing and that's when we went to california to see what kind of support the state was getting to fight and prevent future wildfires. robert bonnie: we need congress to act and we need them to act now. lisa: we spoke with robert bonnie, who was then head of the us forest service. it's the agency in charge of fighting fires, but also preventing them. he says year after year, wildfires are burning through more
