Rep. Baca Testifies About Wildfires
Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, gave the following statement today regarding the California wildfires at a House Agriculture Committee Hearing on the effects of disaster and weather on American agriculture:
“Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlate, thank you for holding this hearing on disaster. I know this was meant to be a platform for agricultural disaster throughout the country, but I want to take a minute to mention the obvious and real disaster going on right now in my own district and throughout Southern California.
As of this morning, the wildfires that have exploded in San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Orange Counties have consumed over 695 square miles of land, destroyed 2,000 homes, forced 1 million people to evacuate their homes, and taken six lives.
There are many reasons for this catastrophe – some are naturally occurring, and others were caused by arson. After the smoke clears and everyone is housed, fed, and clothed – I plan to come back to my friends and colleagues on this Committee, to craft a long-term solution that takes a realistic look at how we fund our firefighters, and what we must do to prevent future disasters of this magnitude.
This project will require tremendous bipartisan cooperation, and the jurisdiction of several other Committees – including Natural Resources, Appropriations, and Budget. But if we are to be true agents of change – this is something we can and must do.
All data indicates that fires nationwide are increasing in size and intensity. Those of us in Congress must respond to these changes. We must have a frank discussion about how we can prevent the extreme loss of trees, property and life.”
-- George Watson
“The status quo will no longer do. Our planet is changing. We must acknowledge that, and meet head on the new challenges we are facing. Again, I thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member for their leadership - and I look forward to hearing from our esteemed witnesses.”
Yeah, sir...how about you stop caving in to the radical environmentalists and start managing the forests! They need to be thinned out. Our Forests are not healthy...there are too many trees per acre. Start getting a backbone! And maybe some new zoning laws that require large greenbelts in between development and the wildlands they back up to.
It is about time that someone will speak up for the little people. I am not directly in danger, but both my and my wife's parents were asked to evacuate from East Highland. As a resident of Highland, I went through the terrible fires of 2003. There was some hope on my family;s part that the lessons learned from the Old Fire would better help in this crisis, but I guess it was not the case. The fire crews are doing an incredible job under the conditions and the resorces that are available.
I agree with Rep. Baca that this is the time to evaluate the current methods of handling this type of situation. It is time to make changes in the technology available to the brave fire crews as well as the time to better educate the public on methods to prevent the massive fires in the future.