Gov. Schwarzenegger Tours Damage Caused by Humboldt Fire

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you very much for showing me around a little bit here and taking me through the neighborhood where a lot of this fire happened. And we want to thank also Secretary Karen Baker, who is in charge of our volunteers in California, because that's a very important part, after the fires or during the fires, when people get evacuated, to have volunteers available that help. And we want to thank also Henry Renteria from the Office of Emergency Services, who is traveling around the state from fire to fire with me, thank you very much. And Chief Walters, who has brought me up to date here, driving over here -- where's the Chief? Right here -- from CAL FIRE and Chief Reniff. And Assemblyman Keene is supposed to be here, is he here already? No? But he told me that he is going to come. And Police Chief Kerrigan, we want to thank him also.

I think that it is very important that we first of all put out the fires in California. But also what is important is that after the fires, that we do everything that we can to rebuild people's neighborhoods and to rebuild their homes and rebuild their lives again. And I think that's why I wanted to come by here today, just to see what we can do as a state, if there is more that we can do. Like I said, we have the volunteers and we have declared an emergency declaration that I have signed for Butte County. And we're working with the locals, and I'm very proud that the state and the locals, wherever the fires are, are working very well together. And we try to make the federal government, on the federal land where there are fires, respond as quickly as possible even though they are talking about being short on revenues and budget and having budget problems and all this. I think we all have that, but I think that public safety is our number one priority.

I also wanted to just mention briefly also about the heat, because I think it's very clear that within the next few days we will see tremendous heat here in California. And I think it is very important that everyone takes care of themselves that works outside -- if it is farmers, construction workers or anyone that works outside -- to drink plenty of water, to have shade every so often, to get in the shade and have rest periods. And that we also have a responsibility to check on our neighbors and to check on animals. There are a lot of neighbors that are vulnerable citizens, older citizens that can't help themselves always, so I think it's important that we help them when there is help needed, and to always check on our neighbors.

Now, let me just talk a little briefly about statewide, the fires. We have right now about 600,000 acres that have burned, so that means that there is more destruction this year than last year. And we have approximately 20,000 personnel, firefighters that are fighting those fires. We have 1,500 fire engines out there that are continuously helping with the battling of those fires, around 100 aircraft -- this is fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

We have 400 additional National Guards that I've asked to come in and to be trained by CAL FIRE. And we want to thank CAL FIRE for their great efforts to train them and bring them up to speed as quickly as possible, because it's very clear that our firefighters are exhausted. They have not gotten enough sleep, enough rest. I think it's very important for us to rotate them out as quickly as possible. Many of them have worked 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hour shifts at any given time. Some of them have been out there on the front for three weeks already fighting the fires, so I think it's very important that we get the personnel, get the National Guard in there to help them and to replace them as quickly as possible.

I think that we have seen, over the last few years, that the fire season that was the traditional fire season, that went from the end of summer through fall, has extended itself, kind of. Every year the fire season got longer and longer and this year we have seen that there is really no fire season anymore in that sense. The first fires started in February and they go all year through.

That means that we need more resources and we need more manpower, we need more engines, we need more aircraft, we need more of everything, because public safety is our number one priority. And this is why I have an Emergency Response Initiative that I made part of the budget, which means that we are raising, we want to raise our homeowners insurance by $1 a month, which is very little. But it will help us a lot, because it will create anywhere between $70-100 million, which will get us the 131 engines, fire engines that we need, and the extra aircraft that we need and the extra manpower that we need.

So I think it's very important that when the legislators pass the budget that they should approve my Emergency Response Initiative, it's extremely important, and I want to ask the people of California to call their legislators and to let them know that this is very important to them.

So with that I just want to turn it over to you, if you have any questions about any of this.

QUESTION/ANSWER:

QUESTION: Governor, as you mentioned, the state has an obligation to pay for all this firefighting as a public safety issue. But given this $15-17 billion shortfall, the timing couldn't be worse. Could you comment on the extra pressure this is putting on the state in terms of the budget, having to pay for all of this firefighting effort?

GOVERNOR: You're absolutely correct. The state has a big problem this year with the budget, not only because of the economy that has declined and the subprime mortgage crisis and the housing market being down and all this, but also our budget system itself has failed the people of California for decades now, and so I want to straighten that out this year.

But nevertheless, with all of those problems one thing we know; when it comes to public safety we don't even want to look at the budget, because public safety is our number one priority. So we will do everything that we can, all of the resources that we have will be poured into those fires. We're going to make sure that we use every engine that we have out there, every man that is fighting fires, any firefighter, everything will be out there, including, like I said, bringing in the National Guard and everything. We want to do everything we can to protect lives and to protect property. And I think that our firefighters have done an extraordinary job because of the great coordination between the locals and the state and the federal government and not only just the firefighting, but also law enforcement has come in, in a very strong way, which is very important for evacuating, that everyone's homes, when they move out, is protected and so on. So I think that public safety is the number one priority.

QUESTION: And you mentioned your insurance surcharge. I know the Assembly has already approved it and it's stalled in the Senate. What would you say to the Senators about their lack of support for that idea?

GOVERNOR: I think it is important for everyone, Democrats and Republicans, not to look at this increase in fees and homeowners in a political way. Take politics out of it, then everything, all the decision making, will be much easier. And I think that we have to help the people of California. We have to recognize that there is a tremendous need now, because we have a fire season that is all year round, to have the additional resources so we can protect lives and property in the future.

QUESTION: For people who aren't on the fire line, not volunteering, what can people do besides just calling the lawmakers, to help out?

GOVERNOR: Well, I think the most important thing is prevention. This is why I recommended not to play around with fireworks on July 4th, because all of this can create extra fires. The last thing we need now is fires that are created by people. And we have seen this in campgrounds, that people sometimes are not careful, a lot of fires are started in campgrounds because they don't abide by the rules and by the laws and other foolish things. But I think maybe you can speak a little bit about the kind of things that people can do in order to prevent fires from happening in the first place

QUESTION: Or maybe just helping the firefighters. Is there anything the people at home can do?

CHIEF BRACHAIS: Sure. The people at home can provide their defensible space. And this time of year they can rake their needles off their roofs, out of their gutters and away from their homes, and get all the flammables away from their homes without going out and using their metal-bladed lawnmowers in dry grass, or their chainsaws or anything like that. We don't want them creating their defensible space, we want them to maintain their space around their homes with other means, without using their power tools, because that's what causes a lot of the fires.

GOVERNOR: The other thing I think is important to know is that the people of California, I always like to remind them that we have in California, without any doubt, the best firefighters in the world. I mean, we have the bravest, the best trained, the most experienced firefighters and I'm really proud of them, the kind of work that they are doing. I've watched them and those guys are really tough, they're real action heroes.

QUESTION: Governor, the National Guard, you mentioned they're getting some very quick training before being sent out on the fire lines, but they are not trained firefighters. What concerns do you have about sending folks like that into harm's way?

GOVERNOR: Well, I think that they are used to risking their lives. That's what makes them so heroic, because they're used to risking their lives. There are a lot of them that just came back from Iraq and from Afghanistan, from two tours and stuff like that, so they're extraordinary guys and they are tough. And they will be trained and they will be used in areas where they can be used, where they don't have to be the top expert in firefighting but where they can be used, because they need manpower out there to fight those fires.

QUESTION: We have some people close by that can't even get renters' insurance because they're more than five miles from a volunteer fire department. What about people's home insurance? They're really concerned right now.

GOVERNOR: Well, I think it's important, and I always reiterate, that people should get fire insurance and they should insure themselves. Overinsuring is the best thing you can do, rather than underinsuring.

QUESTION: But if they can't get it?

GOVERNOR: Well, that's another problem. I'm not an expert on that, but I can have someone answer that for you. Yes, Karen?

SECRETARY BAKER: I might be able to assist a little bit. There are a number of community foundations that are really going to be active in victim assistance, and they're been also there to both support the American Red Cross, the sheltering of animals, and they have funds. The North Valley Community Foundation is a great destination for your dollars if you want to assist victims who have been really hit hard. The Paradise Community Foundation -- these will all be on the CaliforniaVolunteers.org website, so you can learn more about where you can give if you want to help.

QUESTION: Governor, is this extremely critical, the situation that we're in right now?

GOVERNOR: I think that it is very important when you have that many fires all over the state, where you already have 600,000 acres burned, that everyone really works together, is coordinated. And I think that our fire officials on the state level and the Office of Emergency Services and CAL FIRE and the federal government and the state, everyone has worked together, including law enforcement.

And I think it is important now that we have the resources, the additional resources that we need, and that they make our Emergency Response Initiative to pass that initiative as part of the budget so that we have the additional resources for next year. Because this is only going to increase, it's not going to get any better. So that's why it is important for us to be responsible, because public safety is the number one thing.