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By Dennis Romero
The union chief who represents the majority of Californian firefighters said Saturday that President Donald Trump should apologize for blaming the state's deadly fires over "poor" forest management.
The camp fire in northern California has reduced Paradise City to ruins and claimed the lives of nine people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, called Cal Fire. In addition, two bodies were found Friday night in Malibu in the Woolsey fire zone on a 70,000-hectare site, Los Angeles County Sheriff officials said.
"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and expensive forest fires in California, if it is that forest management is so bad," Trump tweeted early Saturday.
He threatened to cut federal funding for forest management, although it was unclear whether he was talking about the US Forest Service or state agencies.
"Firefighters and communities in this state deserve an apology," said Brian Rice, president of the California Firefighters' Union.
Trump's critics provoked a reaction from actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who tweeted, "The reason these fires have worsened is due to climate change and a historic drought."
Actress Patricia Arquette tweeted"Maybe Trump would like to see what happens if California threatens to withhold our federal taxes."
the Pasadena Firefighters Association stated the president "false".
"The fires in So. Cal are urban fires and have nothing to do with forest management," the association tweeted.
Rice agreed. "Malibu is not a connected zone," he said. "These are hills and chaparral."
In addition, he said, most of the state's forests are managed by the federal government.
"The President of the United States ignores the process of forest management and forest fires," he said.
Trump has proposed cuts to the US Department of Agriculture for two consecutive years, including a 15% reduction in funding for 2019. The department oversees the US Forest Service.
The State of California keeps a fund for rainy days for disasters such as floods, earthquakes and fires.
"They are getting ready very well," Rice said, pointing out that Cal Fire was at the top of the state's wildfires.
A spokesman for Cal Fire declined to comment, referring questions to the governor's office.
Governor-elect Gavin Newsom tweeted: "Lives have been lost, entire cities have been burned, cars are abandoned on the side of the road, people are forced to flee their homes, and it is not the time to be partisan. It's time to coordinate relief and response and to lift those in need. "
Newsom announced Friday that Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency had granted a presidential emergency declaration request and federal funding to help fight the Camp and Woolsey fires.
In Butte County, where the campfire burned 100,000 acres, Rice said Saturday saw a firefighter give an evacuee his own extra trousers and shirt to wear.
"This whole community is destroyed," he said. "One would think that the President of the United States could get a little closer to that."
Maybe Trump heard it. Later in the day, Trump tweeted"Our hearts are with those who are fighting the fires, the 52,000 evacuees and the families of the 11 dead, the destruction is catastrophic, God bless them all."
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