Calif. firefighters blast back at Trump
President Trump is taking heat from firefighters for his “reckless and insulting” tweet about the massive fatal forest fires that are torching portions of California after he blamed the state.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump tweeted. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
California Professional Firefighters President Brian Rice responded, “This shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters union also blasted the president, calling Trump’s comments “irresponsible, reckless and insulting.”
The president then changed his focus to a more conventional tack, tweeting, “More than 4,000 are fighting the Camp and Woolsey Fires in California that have burned over 170,000 acres. Our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died. The destruction is catastrophic. God Bless them all.”
But then yesterday morning he reversed course, tweeting from France, “With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!”
The blazes have killed at least 25 people — a number that’s expected to rise.
More than 8,000 firefighters battled three large wildfires burning across nearly 400 square miles in Northern and Southern California yesterday, with out-of-state crews continuing to arrive as gusty, blowtorch winds started to return.
The worst of the blazes was in Northern California, where the number of people killed in that fire alone, at least 23, made it the third-deadliest on record in the state. Two people were also found dead in a wildfire in Southern California, where flames tore through Malibu mansions and working-class Los Angeles suburbs alike.
The blaze destroyed more than 6,700 buildings, nearly all of them homes.
At least five search teams were working in Paradise — a town of 27,000 that was largely incinerated on Thursday — and in surrounding Northern California communities. Hearses stood by as crews searched for bodies in the smoking ruins.
Cal Fire spokesman Bill Murphy warned that the winds predicted into today could spark “explosive fire behavior.”
About 300,000 people statewide were under evacuation orders, most of them in Southern California.