President Donald Trump acknowledged that climate change contributed to the disaster in California but staunchly claimed Friday that bad forest management is the primary cause of the wildfires sweeping the state.
On the eve of a trip to California to survey wildfire damage, Trump told 'Fox News Sunday' that he'd spoken with another state's governor about how to control the spread of fires.
'You need forest management. It has to be. I’m not saying that in a negative way, a positive -- I’m just saying the facts. And I’ve really learned a lot,' he explained.
President Donald Trump acknowledged that climate change contributed to the disaster in California but staunchly claimed Friday that bad forest management is the primary cause of the wildfires sweeping the state
Host Chris Wallace had asked directly about claims that the climate is getting drier out West, and the shift is leading to more fires.
'Maybe it contributes a little bit. The big problem we have is management,' Trump responded.
He disclosed: 'When I was in a certain state, I won’t say which, the governor said, “You know, we’ve tested it. We clean out areas and we actually set the fire just to see, we lose almost nothing, we can put it out right away. And then we leave areas unmaintained, he said, “We’ll lose 100,000 acres before you even know it.”'
Trump told Wallace that he's going to California to speak with firefighters about the devastation.
'Nobody’s ever seen what’s going on over there and now they’re saying it could be as many as 600, this just came out before we met, could be as many as 600 people killed, up by 400, it’s incredible what’s going on,' he said of the missing persons count. 'And burned beyond recognition, they can’t even see the bodies, it’s incredible.'
The White House did not say where the president would be going in the state or whether he would be meeting with California's governor, Jerry Brown, whom he said he had spoken to on Wednesday.
It had simply said in a travel update on Thursday: 'The President will travel to California this Saturday to meet with individuals impacted by the wildfires. We will keep you updated on details as they are available.'
Trump had derided state representatives in a Saturday tweet that threatened to cut off federal funding unless the local government works harder to prevent disasters from happening.
He later signed a disaster declaration for California, anyway, and told its residents: 'I am with you all the way.'
A firefighter keeps watching the wildfire burning near a freeway in Simi Valley, California. It wasn't clear whether Trump would be going there or somewhere else in the state
Trump had derided state representatives in a Saturday tweet that threatened to cut off federal funding unless the local government works harder to prevent disasters from happening
Trump said Tuesday that the United States mourns for the victims of the 'devastating wildfires in California, the likes of which we’ve never seen before,' that have devoured lives and homes.
'And there are more victims than anybody would ever even think possible,' he said at the White House's ceremonial Diwali event.
The president noted that he'd approved disaster relief funds for the state on Monday and promised, 'We will do everything in our power to support and protect our fellow citizens in harm’s way.
'And we say, I think as a group — I can tell you as a group: God bless everybody. That’s a very tough situation.'
After returning from Paris late Sunday, where he'd spent the weekend celebrating the centennial of World War I armistice, Trump approved an expedited request for disaster relief funds to be released to California.
'Wanted to respond quickly in order to alleviate some of the incredible suffering going on. I am with you all the way. God Bless all of the victims and families affected,' he said.
Trump had dramatically changed his tone in the message after claiming on Saturday and Sunday that the state needed to get its act together or else he would withhold funds.
'There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. 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!' he said in a tweet from France.
He later signed a disaster declaration for California, anyway, and told its residents: 'I am with you all the way'
He refused to back down from his position on Sunday but had changed his tune by Monday
He refused to back down from his position on Sunday, saying in a second tweet, 'With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!'
The tweets set the tone for the trip, even if Trump spoke to Brown, a Democrat, and backed off his position. The two men have an especially difficult relationship not just because they come from different parties, but because California accounts for a significant amount of the land along which Trump wants to build his border wall.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke went ahead of the president, making an unscheduled top in a California town devastated by the wildfires on Wednesday with Brown.
Zinke surveyed the horrific damage caused by the Camp Fire, which killed at least 48 people, in Paradise with the California governor.
He said it 'was worst than any war zone I saw in Iraq' and refused to get into the dispute with Trump.
The Cabinet secretary who called off a trip to Asia to be there said 'now is really not the time to point fingers' as he toured the area that had been completely wiped out.
Many residents said they only had about 10 minutes to flee after hearing about the blaze. Some bodies were found laying next to cars, too late to escape.
'Every time I come to California I say this is the worst fire I've seen. Once again, this is the absolute worst,' Zinke tweeted during his visit on Wednesday. 'The heroism of firefighters is amazing.'
After walking around Paradise with Brown and touring a fire-ravaged elementary school, Zinke joined the governor for a press conference in which he urged America to 'stand together' amid the destruction.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke went against the president's playbook on Wednesday as he walked through Paradise, California, which was completely wiped out by the wildfires, and said that 'now is really not the time to point fingers'
Zinke surveyed the horrific damaged caused by the Camp Fire, which has killed at least 48 people, in Paradise with Governor Jerry Brown and it 'was worst than any war zone I saw in Iraq'
'Now is really not the time to point fingers,' he said. 'Now is the time to look at whose out there that's unaccounted for, and make sure families have what they need. It is time for America to stand together.'
Zinke said: 'It's really a devastating tragedy. It's hard to describe in words until you visit with the victims and victims' families, and see the small great communities become a charred image of what they once were.'
'We all share the same grief, we're going to make sure within our power that it's not going to happen again.'
He repeatedly said that there were 'a lot of reasons' why catastrophic blazes continued to rage in California, taking a far different line than Trump did when the Camp Fire first broke out last week.
Trump received widespread criticism after he blamed California wildfires on 'forest mismanagement' and even threatened to withhold federal funds.
But Zinke made it clear he did not want to retread that ground and said reasons for the fires included the fact that 'fire seasons have gotten longer and the temperatures have gotten hotter.'
After walking around Paradise with Brown (pictured together) on Wednesday, Zinke joined the governor for a press conference in which he urged America to 'stand together'
Zinke and Brown stand together as they tour a school that had been burned to the ground by the Camp Fire last week
Zinke tweeted a photo of himself meeting with Brown on Wednesday morning and shaking hands with the governor, a sign of unity that continued throughout his trip in Paradise
Zinke also tweeted a photo of himself and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long on the phone with President Donald Trump as they briefed him about the fire
Ken Pimlott, head of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, left, shows Brown where smoke is still rising from a smoldering tree during a tour of the fire-ravaged Paradise Elementary School on Wednesday
After he was questioned repeatedly about his boss' tweets, Zinke said that Trump had 'pledged his full support to California.'
'But you're right, this is not a state issue, or a federal issue, this is an American issue,' he added. 'We're all going to have to work together to find solutions to this.'
Trump had also changed his tune by Wednesday, taking to Twitter to reveal he had been briefed by Zinke and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long during their visit.
'Thank you to the great Firefighters, First Responders and @fema for the incredible job they are doing w/ the California Wildfires. Our Nation appreciates your heroism, courage & genius. God Bless you all!' he added.
While Zinke did not outright blame the fires on global warming, Brown had no problem addressing climate change head on.
'We're in a different kind of world,' he said. 'There are many elements to this, what causes this. The changing of the climate, the winds, the dryness, the continuing drought.'
'Our indigenous people had a very different way of living with nature. For 10,000 years there was never more than 30,000 people, now we have 40 million and it's a totally different situation.'
On Wednesday a team of Army National Guard members began aiding the search for bodies, sifting through the rubble of homes where missing people have been reported
Members of the California Army National Guard don protective suits in preparation to search for human remains at the Camp Fire on Wednesday in Paradise
Dozens of soldiers worked with anthropological teams in Paradise, turning over anything that resembles human remains to the coroner's office
A San Francisco firefighter uses an axe to dismantle a burned mobile home as he searches for human remains at a mobile home park that was destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise on Wednesday
'It's people, it's how they live, it's where they live, and it's the changing climate. And the truth is, we're going to have more difficulties, things are not going to get better,' he added.
The liberal governor stated, 'They're going to get more challenging because of the continuing alteration of the climate. At the end of the day we are physical beings in a biological world buffeted by physical forces.'
'We have to understand those forces and conduct our lives and shape our activities so that we fit in with nature, instead of trying to fight it.'
Brown revealed on Wednesday that he had issued an executive order to speed up recovery efforts and 'cut red tape.' He said Trump had also personally called him and pledged the 'full resources of the federal government.'
The governor would not discuss who could be held liable for the fire, refusing to comment on allegations that a Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) powerline was to blame for igniting the blaze.
'The issue here is not pointing a bunch of fingers, it's being crystal clear about what is going on and what we face,' he said. 'There will be plenty of time for accountability, but at the end of the day it's us that have to deal with it.'
'We have to clean up debris, bind our wounds, and get with tomorrow. We're in for very difficult times, but I can assure you everyone in California is going to do their best.'
New drone footage has revealed the extent of devastation in the town of Paradise, which was completely wiped out by a California wildfire
The devastating footage shows home after home completely leveled, cars all burned to a crisp, everything in site either gray rubble or black ash
New drone footage released by ABC10 on Wednesday captured the horrific portrait of devastation in Paradise, where home after home was completely leveled and everything in site was turned to gray rubble and black ash.
The Camp Fire is now the deadliest and most destructive fire in California's history, killing at least 48 people and destroying more than 6,500 homes and 260 buildings as it burned through more than 160,000 acres.
After six days, the blaze only remains 35 percent contained and more than 100 people are still missing.
On the opposite end of California, there were similar scenes of devastation as a Los Angeles sheriff shared aerial images of the Woolsey Fire's destruction.
The heartbreaking photos, posted by Sheriff Jim McDonnell, show rows and rows of home reduced to rubble, the trees and vegetation surrounding them singed to nothingness.
'While touring #WoolseyFire burn areas & seeing the devastation from above it brings a greater understanding that each house is a home,' McDonnell tweeted alongside the photos on Tuesday. 'Each home has a life & memories attached to it.'
Paradise was consumed so quickly by the Camp Fire that many victims didn't even have time to start their cars and escape
The Camp Fire has destroyed more than 8,817 structures, including 7,600 homes, in less than a week since it first ignited
Authorities revealed on Wednesday that human remains were found in a burned home in Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Two other bodies were found last week in a car that had been overtaken by flames. They have not yet been identified.
The Woolsey Fire has burned an area the size of Denver and destroyed more than 400 structures and 80 percent of National Parks Service land in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Cool weather helped fire crews gain ground Thursday against the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century, as the search went on for more bodies. At least 63 people were killed and 600 were unaccounted for a week after the flames swept through.
The nearly 220-square-mile (570-square-kilometer) blaze in Northern California was 40 percent contained, the state fire agency said, and firefighters succeeded in slowing the flames' advance toward populated areas.
At the other end of the state, crews made progress against a blaze of more than 153 square miles (396 square kilometers) that destroyed over 500 structures in Malibu and other Southern California communities. The fire was 57 percent contained, Cal Fire reported.
At least three deaths were reported in Southern California.
Officials in Northern California put the number of homes lost there at nearly 8,800, and the sheriff said the task of recovering remains had become so vast that his office brought in 287 more searchers Wednesday, including National Guard troops. The search crews used 22 cadaver dogs.
More than 450 searchers were assigned to look for remains in Paradise, which was all but destroyed Nov. 8, and in outlying areas such as Magalia, a forested town of about 11,000. Many of the missing were elderly and from Magalia.
Police drove around town, searching for those still in their homes and checking if they needed food and water.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Wednesday night that 130 people were missing. His office later released a list of 300 who were unaccounted for, though spokeswoman Miranda Bowersox said some of those may simply not have checked in with officials or family.
In Paradise, authorities are currently working hard to identify more victims of the horrific blaze.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the devastation is so complete in some neighborhoods that 'it's very difficult to determine whether or not there may be human remains there'.
'In some cases, the only remains we are able to recover are bones or bone fragments,' Honea said, adding that these were so small that coroner's investigators were using a wire basket to sift and sort them.
On Wednesday a team of Army National Guard members began aiding the search for bodies, sifting through the rubble of homes where missing people have been reported.
Dozens of soldiers worked with anthropological teams, turning over anything that resembled human remains to the coroner's office.
Authorities have set up a rapid DNA analysis system and brought in cadaver dogs and mobile morgue units from the military in an intensified effort to identify victims.
'We want to be able to cover as much ground as quickly as we possibly can. This is a very difficult task,' Honea said on Tuesday night.
On the opposite end of California, there were similar scenes of devastation as a Los Angeles sheriff shared aerial images of the Woolsey Fire's destruction (pictured)
The heartbreaking photos, shared by Sheriff Jim McDonnell, show rows and rows of home reduced to rubble, the trees and vegetation surrounding them singed to nothingness
The Woolsey Fire has killed two people and tore through more than 97,620 acres, burning an area the size of Denver and destroying more than 400 structures and 80 percent of National Parks Service land
The Camp Fire, Woolsey Fire, and Hill Fire are all still blazing across California as of Wednesday morning, as the map shows
Several victims of the Camp Fire filed lawsuits against Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in San Francisco County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The suit accuses PG&E of being responsible for the destructive blaze, claiming it failed to properly maintain its equipment and infrastructure.
The Camp fire originated on Camp Creek Road near Highway 70 around 6.30am last week on Thursday.
Betsy Ann Cowley lives on 64 acres in Pulga, right next to the junction with Camp Creek Road. Cowley revealed that PG&E emailed her the day before the fire began and said it needed to investigate power lines on her land.
The email said the company was sending employees to work on the high-power lines because 'they were having problems with sparks'.
But PG&E has since said that the email was regarding a different transmission line than the damaged one that had been discovered by firefighters at the origin site of the Camp Fire beneath high-tension wires.
The utility company said the transmission line it emailed Cowley about had been 'de-energized' and was not operating when the Camp Fire began, according to the Mercury News.
'We have not seen anything that includes a discussion with the customer in question about "sparks" and PG&E infrastructure,' the utility company said. 'This is not the same line that PG&E identified in its Electric Incident Report.'
PG&E informed the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that a high-voltage power line experienced an outage in the same location where the Camp Fire began.
The outage occurred just 15 minutes before the blaze broke out, according to the filing.
Ernest Foss, 63, of Paradise (left), and Jesus 'Zeus' Fernandez, 48, of Concow (right), both died in the Camp Fire in California
Family members of Lolene Rios, 58, (right) have also identified her as another victim in Paradise. Her husband Rick Rios, 69, (left) barely made it out of their home alive
Debbe Morningstar, 65, (pictured) was retired and lived in Paradise for more than 30 years. While she had evacuated her home during previous fires, she decided not to leave her home on Thursday
Bill Godbout, 79, was a microcomputer pioneer and a 'legend in the S-100 community for his 1970s-1980s work at Godbout Electronics and CompuPro,' according to an obituary
A rescuer works among debris after the wildfire in Paradise on Tuesday. Several victims of the Camp Fire have since filed lawsuits against Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in San Francisco County Superior Court
The suit accuses PG&E of being responsible for the destructive blaze, claiming it failed to properly maintain its equipment and infrastructure. Pictured is Paradise on Tuesday
A volunteer search and rescue crew from Calaveras County comb through a home destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise on Tuesday afternoon
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea revealed that the remains of 13 additional people were located on Monday. Honea said 10 human remains were located in Paradise. Seven of those were found in homes and three outside
An aerial inspection also revealed that a transmission tower on that same transmission line had been damaged 'in the area of the Camp Fire'.
Two days before the fire started, PG&E told customers in nine counties, including Butte County, that it might shut off their power on November 8 because of extreme fire danger.
But the utility company called off the shutdown, telling customers nine hours after the Camp Fire began that the weather conditions 'did not warrant this safety measure'.
Mike Danko, a lawyer representing the Camp Fire victims, claims that PG&E did not go through with the planned shutdown because company bonuses are tied to customer complaints.
'This is the worst of them all, because PG&E knew what to do to prevent the fire, knew what the risks of a fire are, and instead lined their pockets at the expense of customer safety,' he said.
Danko said he expects more lawsuits against PG&E will be filed soon.
'They've destroyed people's lives, killed people and burned down many houses - in fact, an entire town,' he told the San Francisco Chronicle. 'At some point, there has to be accountability.'
The cause of the fire remains under investigation but CalFire spokesman Scott McLean said 'electric equipment' was being included in the probe.
Tensions ran high as the Paradise Town Council held a meeting on Tuesday night where resident Michael Orr called on Mayor Jody Jones, who was just reelected last week, to resign following the response to the blaze.
Orr blamed Jones for the town's chaotic evacuation and rising death toll. Jones said she has no plans to resign.
'Well people died, yes. It did not go perfectly,' she told CBS San Francisco.
'I don't know that we could have had a plan that was better. We couldn't get everyone out because you can't fit 26,000 people out of the road at the same time.'
Authorities believe the new flare-up (pictured) was caused by what are known as 'red flag conditions', in which low humidity and high winds combine to make the perfect conditions for a wildland fire combustion
The blaze (seen on Tuesday) has prompted new evacuations at the same time thousands of residents are finally being allowed back into their neighborhoods after the Woolsey Fire first ignited on Tuesday
The Woolsey fire continued to burn largely out of control in southern California on Tuesday night after hurricane-strength winds fanned flames in the Santa Monica Mountains, causing a flare-up which burned 50 acres in 30 minutes (pictured left)
Jones said the town had put together an evacuation plan after a fire through it in 2008.
The plan called for Paradise to evacuate neighborhood by neighborhood, and they even practiced it last year, but it fell to pieces within moments on Thursday.
'I don't know that you could build the infrastructure to evacuate an entire town that quickly,' she said. 'I just don't know if that's possible.'
Brown seemed to backup Jones during his press conference as he said Paradise had done a 'lot of pre-planning for just this kind of emergency'.
'But the fire was unprecedented and overwhelming and a lot of people got caught,' he added.
Although California's wildfires have been burning for nearly a week, high winds and low humidity are continuing to fuel the flames.
The Woolsey Fire ripped through 50 acres in 30 minutes in the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday afternoon as hurricane-force winds of 85mph sparked a new flare-up. It burned a total of 1,000 acres in the Lake Sherwood area.
Authorities believe the flare-up was caused by what are known as 'red flag conditions', in which low humidity and high winds combine to make the perfect conditions for a wildland fire combustion.
'It's critically dry with incredibly strong winds, so that really puts us back into a day where we could see rapid fire spread as a result of any new fires or flare-ups,' Cal Fire Division Chief Chris Anthony told the Los Angeles Times.
Rains aren't expected to hit the parched area until Thanksgiving next week, according to the National Weather Service.
'We are not out of the woods yet,' added Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen. 'We still have incredibly tough conditions ahead of us.'
On Monday Liam Hemsworth shared heartbreaking photos of the destroyed Malibu mansion he shares with Miley Cyrus after it was hit by the Woolsey fire
'A lot of people lost everything and will have to rebuild from scratch,' he said. 'I am okay and so grateful for the well wishes'
Robin Thicke's home was also completely destroyed by the fire, leaving nothing more than a pile of rubble and ash behind
Camille Grammer also revealed on Sunday that she had lost her home, saying it 'couldn't be saved' and posting a picture of it up in flames
A number of celebrities have lost their houses in the Woolsey fire, including Neil Young, Kim Basinger, Robin Thicke, Camille Grammer and Gerard Butler
Another flare-up - dubbed the Sierra Fire - also broke out dangerously close to homes in Rialto around 9pm on Tuesday night, burning 20 acres in just minutes and tearing through 147 acres by Wednesday morning, according to KABC.
Fire crews had to fight against 50mph winds as a number of power lines, as well as some backyards and one palm tree, caught on fire.
No evacuations were ordered, but traffic in the area became backed up as residents scrambled to leave anyway.
Strong wind gusts thankfully sent most of the flames away from the homes and no structures caught on fire. As of Wednesday afternoon the fire was holding at 147 acres and has 85 percent containment.
Yet another flare-up occurred Wednesday morning in uninhabited areas in the Santa Monica Mountains, but the flames had mostly subsided by 6.30am and was far from any homes.
Winds were expected to significantly weaken by Wednesday afternoon and authorities planned to lift the red flag levels. But low humidity levels will keep the danger levels just one below the red flag level at 'elevated'.
Fire officials were able to lift evacuation orders early Tuesday in all or parts of about five communities in Ventura and Los Angeles counties - including the star-studded Hidden Hills, Calabasas, and Malibu.
As many as 250,000 people were ordered to evacuate when Woolsey was at its peak.
Aerial images also showed that the fire had completely wiped out the home Robin Thicke shared with April Love Geary
Aerial images have also been released that show the destruction of several celebrities' homes, including Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus' Malibu mansion (pictured)
The Kardashian clan, Simon Cowell, Will Smith, and Lady Gaga were just a few of the dozens of celebrities who had to evacuate.
And Gerard Butler, Neil Young, and Camille Grammer Meyer were among those who lost their homes in the blaze.
Large areas of Los Angeles still remain off-limits due to downed power lines, embers that could re-ignite, buckled roads, and lack of power and communications.
Linkhienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/11/17/climate-change-contributes-to-wildfires-says-trump-but-mostly-its-bad-forest-management/
Main photo article President Donald Trump acknowledged that climate change contributed to the disaster in California but staunchly claimed Friday that bad forest management is the primary cause of the wildfires sweeping the state.
On the eve of a trip to California to survey wildfire damage, Trump told ‘Fox...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/15/21/6243908-6395299-President_Donald_Trump_is_headed_to_California_this_weekend_to_s-a-54_1542318905168.jpg
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