‘Trump owes all of us an apology’ says evacuee
OROVILLE >> Anger over President Donald Trump's initial response to the deadly Camp Fire and the possibility that PG&E equipment sparked the blaze boiled over at a community meeting Monday night.
“I hope somebody will do something about PG&E. They're a monopoly. They're corrupt. And I think Trump owes all of us an apology,” a Cherokee resident told elected officials, drawing applause from the audience gathered at the State Theater in Oroville.
“We are quite upset with this being blamed on trees and management,” the resident said.
The resident was referring in part to a tweet from Trump. On Saturday, the president claimed the conflagration was the result of “gross mismanagement of the forests” and threatened to pull federal funding. Fire officials and scientists have roundly rejected the assertion.
In an about-face Monday, Trump tweeted he had approved California's request for a major disaster declaration, which will free up federal funding.
PG&E, meanwhile, is facing scrutiny for the role a transmission line in Pulga might have played in igniting the blaze. Radio transmissions from Nov. 8, the day the fire started, revealed a problem with the line. The town owner says she also received an email that the utility was planning to work on towers that “were having problems with sparks.”
Before opening the meeting to questions from the audience, officials urged calm and patience from residents displaced by the fire, which now ranks as the deadliest and most destructive in recorded California history. The death toll on Monday soared to 42.
“I know we're frustrated,” said Butte County Supervisor Steve Lambert, referring to residents who wanted to know whether their homes were still standing and when they might be able to return. “I know we're scared. I know we've been through so much. But we want to be here to help get you through it.”
“We're all working together on this,” added Congressman Doug LaMalfa, RRichville. “The president has responded quickly,” he continued. “I know personally he loves Northern California. He's been here, and who knows, maybe he'll come back pretty soon. But we know that they're sending everything they can to help because they're on board with the people of Northern California and the several crises we've had to deal with in the state.”
Officials also fielded questions about how evacuations were handled. One resident suggested both directions of Highway 32 should have been used to funnel traffic away from the flames.
“I don't remember any alert coming over my radio,” the resident said.
“It got to the point where this thing was outrunning us before we even knew we were in a race,” replied Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory Honea. “I wish we'd had the opportunity to get more alerts out, more of a warning out, but unfortunately we didn't.”
Honea noted that the fire was personal for him, too. More than 30 of his employees lost their homes. His daughter is also a police officer in Paradise, which was all but wiped off the map.
“I was awfully proud to see her protecting her community and I was scared to death I'd never get to see her again,” he said.
Another resident at the meeting asked for an update on how three firefighters injured in the blaze were doing. Officials said two have been released from the hospital; the third is still being treated at UC Davis.
As the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection continues to battle the now 125,000-acre blaze, officials also urged residents not to brush off future warnings to evacuate.
“It's a new world out there,” said Butte County Supervisor Doug Teeter, who saw his home go up in flames. “When it's this dry and this windy, don't think back on the past like I did: ‘Oh, fire never crosses the Feather River.' It blew across that huge ravine so fast. All of us were at risk. And some of us died. I am here to say, ‘Don't die, heed the warning.'”