Bush Visits California Wildfire Sites

President Gets First-Hand Look At Destruction Wrought By Largest Fire Event In State History

(AP)  President Bush offered federal help and encouragement Thursday to some of the 25,000 firefighters working under a blazing sun to contain wildfires that make up the single largest fire event ever recorded in California.

Since a huge lightning storm on June 21, about 2,010 separate fires have ignited across California, ravaging nearly 900,000 acres. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in 12 counties affected by the wildfires and has called in the California National Guard to help.

"The weather is stable - steady hot and dry inland," said Jason Kirchner, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "Our folks are grinding away on these fires, making progress, but it's coming slow and it's a lot of work."

In Redding, in the northwest corner of the state, Bush was being briefed on the fires and meeting with a few dozen first responders and state and local officials. Afterward, the president and Schwarzenegger were taking an aerial tour to survey fire damage in the 2.1 million-acre Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the largest in California.

Later, Bush was flying south to speak at a political reception in Napa, north of San Francisco, that's raising about $850,000 for the Republican National Committee.

Briefing reporters aboard Air Force One during the flight from Washington, David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said a myriad of federal agencies have been participating in daily, one-hour video conferences with California officials to identify ways for the federal government to help the state.

He said a unified command system that FEMA put in place after the ineffective and sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina started working well last year and has helped provide timely federal help to California.

"It's been tough for the residents, I understand that," Paulison said. "But I have to tell you, the firefighting coordination, considering the size of this event, has been some of the best I've seen. I'm very proud of what's happened."

More than 25,000 firefighters have arrived from 41 states plus Canada, Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, he said. So far, FEMA has obligated more than $154 million to California to pay for firefighting, evacuations, shelter, traffic control, equipment and supplies, Paulison said. Nearly 150 helicopters and more than 1,000 fire engines are involved.

About 200 injuries, including deep burns, have been reported. The only firefighter death so far has been attributed to a heart attack, said Daniel Berlant, a state fire department spokesman.

A man whose body was found Friday in a burned-out house in rural Butte County was identified as a 61-year-old who didn't heed evacuation requests.

Three men and a teenager trapped by flames in a Northern California forest were rescued on a closed road by fire crews Wednesday and treated for burns, authorities said.

Meanwhile, controlled burns designed to clear brush from the hills skirting the Big Sur coast were going well, officials said.

Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place Thursday for about 20 homes along the heavily wooded ridges near Carmel Valley, said Ruby Urueta, spokeswoman with the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center. Another 200 houses were emptied in the nearby rural community of Cachagua because of the fire danger.

The complex of fires in Butte County is 80 percent contained after burning through 84 square miles and destroying dozens of homes.

The number of casualties are much lower than in previous disasters in California, including the series of fires in October 2003 that left 24 people dead and destroyed thousands of homes.

[flysky06]

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[messiahx4eve]

Nice dream vietnam21, keep thinking those happy happy, joy joy thoughts, one day, soon perhaps, you will wake up from your blind slumber and see. But until then, enjoy your meds & self-delusional thoughts & above all, keep repeating to yourself; this is NOT reality, this is NOT reality King shrub is a good and kindly king.

[vietnam21]

Ah, the George Bush haters...Let''s see. Unemployment lower than when Clinton was prez. Inflation low for most of G.W.''s term. Interest rates low. Economy consistently growing. No repeat of 9/11. Al Qaeda on the defensive. Americans living in monster homes and driving monster trucks and SUVs 85 mph down the freeway -- but energy prices are too high (sob!) Iraq war coming to a successful conclusion -- the surge having succeeded. The cost of the Iraq war -- $650 billion over five years. U.S. gross domestic product last year: $13.4 trillion. Five years of U.S. gross domestic product: about $55 trillion. Annual cost of Iraq war equivalent to about 2% of our gross domestic product. What a disaster! Let''s see...which Bush policies did the Democrats support: spying on Americans, war in Iraq, tax cuts. Kerry, Kennedy, and both Clintons said Saddam''s WMDs were a threat. But now it''s "Bush''s lie" and "Bush''s war." Oh, and the screaming about spying on Americans...Too funny. The Soviets got the atom bomb thanks to American traitors. We''ve been spying on Americans almost since day one in this country -- with good reason. OK, now you libs, lefties and dems can go back to feeling intellectually superior.

[ubrew12]

Epitath for the Bush Administration:
''He told us that big government doesn''t work.
So we hired him... and he proved it to us!''

(more vacation time than any President in history)

[needed2bsaid]

C''''''''''''''''mon you folks, stop harping;

LEAVE BUSH ALONE!

Posted by valentin73

Whaaaahhhh, I wish Bush would leave me alone!

[needed2bsaid]

Careful Bushy, don''t flip that spent, lit joint into the brush... Remember, you''re only there to observe!!

[terrapin78]

C''''''''mon you folks, stop harping;

LEAVE BUSH ALONE!

Posted by valentin73 at 09:08 AM : Jul 18, 2008


Right you are. Whenever there are problems, people tend to blame whoever is in charge of the country, whether or not the issues have anything to do with him or not. Just because Bush is unpopular and not exactly the best president we''''ve ever had doesn''''t mean we need to belittle him constantly. It''''s the toughest job in the world, after all.


Bush will be gone soon enough and all you whiners that go with the flow can whin about someone else.

Posted by onlythereal at 07:18 AM : Jul 18, 2008


Exactly right. And personally, I hate whiners. .

Posted by nordeck52 at 01:04 PM : Jul 18, 2008


THEN STOP BRING UP CLINTON AT EVERY TURN!!!!

You people make me laugh, you are fuquing STUPID!

[terrapin78]

I saw Bu$h throwing lit matches into underbrush in CA.

He''s an arsonist.

Arrest him and throw him in jail!!!!!

[needed2bsaid]

When is California just going to drop off the mainland??? I don''t need your avacadoes that bad or your "We''re better than everyone else" attitude. If it was up to California I think we would all be living in a bubble because EVERYTHING is known to the state of California to cause birth defects and/or cancer. Wait! Maybe the bubble causes cancer too????

[ubrew12]

onlythereal said: "Bush will be gone... and all you whiners...can whin about someone else...

Get a clue, sin is sin. The only difference is homosexuals want everyone to accept it"

Who''s whining now?

[inventagod2]

Bu$h - what a waste of air.
Bu$h $upporters - ''nuff said...

[nordeck52]

C''''mon you folks, stop harping;

LEAVE BUSH ALONE!

Posted by valentin73 at 09:08 AM : Jul 18, 2008


Right you are. Whenever there are problems, people tend to blame whoever is in charge of the country, whether or not the issues have anything to do with him or not. Just because Bush is unpopular and not exactly the best president we''ve ever had doesn''t mean we need to belittle him constantly. It''s the toughest job in the world, after all.


Bush will be gone soon enough and all you whiners that go with the flow can whin about someone else.

Posted by onlythereal at 07:18 AM : Jul 18, 2008


Exactly right. And personally, I hate whiners. .

[nordeck52]

So basically, it was just like California is today, except the women had real **** and the men didn''''t hold hands.

Posted by MeanBiker at 09:17 AM : Jul 18, 2008


Your comment made me burst out laughing. It''s so very true!

[deacon20081]

Proof George Bush is not a Texan is in the photo.
A Western Belt with Pleated Pants?
Not in Texas....Texans wear Levi''s or Wranglers LOL
Mabey the pleated trousers were to impress Arnold.

[mark46n]

No valentin73 I wont leave Bush alone. I would not want to live with the legacy this oil man is going to have to live with. Highest oil prices in history, thousands of people lost jobs to outsourcing, housing market in the dumper, economy in the dumper, Iraq oil war is a disaster and our soldiers dying daily for nothing, overall job rating is the worst in the history of the Presidency and the list go''s on. I cant wait for the day I don''t have to see his face on t.v. daily.

[meanbiker]

Today''s history lesson:



Do you know what happened this week back in 1850, 158 years ago?



1. California became a state.



2. The state had no electricity.



3. The state had no money.



4. Almost everyone spoke Spanish.



5. There were gunfights in the streets.



So basically, it was just like California is today, except the women had real **** and the men didn''t hold hands.

[valentin73]

C''mon you folks, stop harping;

LEAVE BUSH ALONE!

govenator here, the bush man cometh and the bushman taketh. no girlie girls allowed

[omnibus66]

Just what we need. The Smirkinator wasting a couple of million tax dollars for another meaningless photo op.

The least he could have done was to have taken his chain saw with him so he could clear some brush, which is reported to be one of his favorite pastimes.

January 20 can''t come too soon.

[trishab4]

Liar935 Bush was asked to help by Calfornian.

-He peeeeeeed a long shot!