Trump unrepentant over fire blame game

DONALD TRUMP yesterday doubled down on his insistence that poor forest management was partly to blame for California’s most deadly fire ever, as the Queen sent her condolences to the state.

Before heading to California, the US president told reporters he had been raising concerns about the issue for a “long time”.

The so-called Camp Fire that swept through Paradise, a town 200 miles north of San Francisco, killed 71 but there are fears that figure could rise.

The number of people missing has soared to 1,011, almost doubling in 24 hours, after reviews were carried out on records of emergency phone calls.

Some family members of loved ones unaccounted for spoke of time running out as the authorities searched through an area of destruction the size of Chicago looking for survivors.

Jonathan Clark, who was hunting for his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, told AFP: “I’m still going to keep on looking and hope for the best. My dad is starting to lose hope a little bit.”

The Queen paid tribute to the “courage and dedication” of the US emergency services and volunteers in the area in a message of condolence issued on Friday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims, and to all those who have lost their homes and livelihoods,” the Queen said.

Mr Trump triggered a backlash a week ago when he tweeted that “there is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor”. He sent the message before expressing any sympathy for the victims.

Mr Trump yesterday again raised the issue. “We will be talking about forest management. I’ve been saying that for a long time. It should have been a lot different.”

He also praised the “unbelievably brave” firemen who helped tackle the blaze.