The fire could have been prevented with forest management.
Via Daily Mail:
Donald Trump appears to be speechless as he finally walks through the charred wreckage left behind by the Northern California wildfires that have decimated and scorched the town of Paradise and left 74 in the state dead.
The president landed at the Beale Air Force base in Northern California hours after he blamed the deadly wildfires on poor forest management yet again, re-igniting fury among West Coast residents and firefighters.
But he was quiet as he walked side by side with Paradise Mayor Jody Jones and surveyed the devastation of the once lively-town in person.
After landing in Yuba County, near the Camp Fire aftermath, around 1pm Eastern time (10am Pacific time), Trump was given a 30-minute helicopter tour of the area flying through the thick haze of smoke then headed out on foot to see rescue crews and the scorched remains of the town.
‘Nobody would have ever thought this could have happened. The federal government is behind you. We’re all behind each other. I think we can truly say… We’re all going to work together and we’ll do a real job. But this is very sad to see,’ Trump said.
‘As far as the lives are concerned, nobody knows quite yet. We’re up to a certain number but we have a lot of people who aren’t accounted for. This isn’t even as bad as some areas, some areas are even beyond this – they’re just charred,’ he added.
The president spoke to press first thing in the morning from the White House South Lawn before taking off for California where he’ll be making two stops and will speak with first responders, FEMA representatives, California governor Jerry Brown and governor elect Gavin Newsom.
‘It seems many more people are missing than anyone thought even possible. And I want to be with the firefighters and the FEMA and first responders,’ Trump said prior to takeoff.
‘We have a lot of things to talk about. We will be talking about forest management. I’ve been saying that for a long time. This could have been a lot different situation… Very expensive issue but very inexpensive when you compare it to even one of these horrible fires and will save lots of lives in addition to a lot of money,’ he said.
However, he commended the team of more than 9,000 ‘unbelievably brave’ firefighters on the scene.