DOCSLIB.ORG

20031204-BRC-Meeting Transcript

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
20031204-BRC-Meeting Transcript 1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 GOVERNOR’S BLUE RIBBON FIRE COMMISSION 3 4 5 BEFORE THE GOVERNOR’S BLUE ) RIBBON FIRE COMMISSION, ) TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 6 ) 12/04/03 Senator William Campbell, Chair ) San Bernardino, California 7 ) 8 9 CHAIR CAMPBELL: Good afternoon, Ladies andGentleme n, we’d like to call the order the 10 second meeting of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on fires. We’d like to begin with - self 11 introductions. We’ll start down at the left. Goead, ah Blair Springer. You’re name and whom you 12 represent. 13 MR. SPRINGER: Blair Springer, consultant to the Blue Ribbon Commission. 14 MR. SEDIVEC: Jeff Sedivec, President of the California State Firefighters Association. 15 MR. PRATHER: Chip Prather, Governor’s Emergency Council and the Fire Chief of the Orange 16 County Fire Authority. 17 MR.BILL McCAMMON:Fire Chief, Alameda County Fire Department and President of 18 California Fire Chiefs Association. 19 CHIEF BOWMAN: Jeff Bowman, Chief of San Diego Fire Department. 20 CHIEF ZAGARIS: Kim Zagaris, Chief, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. 21 MR. WILLIAMS: Jerry Williams, National Director of Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. 22 Forest Service. 23 CHIEF BAMATTRE: Bill Bamattre, Fire Chief, Los Angeles, representing the California 24 Metropolitan Fire Chiefs. 25 MR. MARTINEZ: Rick Martinez, California Office of Homeland Security. 26 MR. FREEMAN: Michael Freeman, Los Angeles County Fire Department, representing 27 FIRESCOPE. 28 MS. TUTTLE: Andrea Tuttle, Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission Page 1 of 94 December 4, 2003 1 MAYOR MURPHY: Dick Murphy, Mayor of the City of San Diego. 2 MR. JACKSON: Jimmy Jackson, representing Senator Dede Alpert. 3 MR. HANSBERGER: I’m Dennis Hansberger, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, San 4 Bernardino County. 5 MR. LEWIS: Jerry Lewis, Ihave the privilege of representing this countya long ways away – 6 Washington, D.C. 7 MR. GERBER: I’m Robert Gerber, I’m with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and 8 I’m serving as the executive secretary to the commission. 9 MR. DUTTON: Ted Dutton, representing Assemblyman Robert Dutton. 10 MAYOR VALLES: Judith Valles, Mayor of the City of San Bernardino. 11 MS. SMITH: Donna Smith, legislative counsel for Congresswoman Susan Davis from San Diego. 12 MR. MILLER: Michael Miller, Chief of Staff to Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe. 13 CHIEF ROPER: Bob Roper, Fire Chief, Ventura County, representing Judy Michaels, Chair of the 14 Ventura County Board of Supervisors. 15 MR. FUKUTOMI: David Fukutomi, Federal oordinatingC Office with FEMA, Department of 16 Homeland Security. 17 MR. VERGA: Pete Verga, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, or Homeland 18 Defense. 19 MR. WILLS: Carroll Wills, California Professional Firefighters, representing Bob Wolf. 20 MS. DELGADO: Marilyn Delgado, here representing tribal governments. 21 MR. HAMILTON: I’m Larry Hamilton, I’m the National Director of Fire and Aviation for the 22 Bureau of Land Management, representing the Department of the Interior. 23 MR. WILEY: George Wiley with Speaker Herb Wesson’s office of Sacramento. 24 CHAIR CAMPBELL: Thank you very much. I’dlike to excuse the members of the Senate and 25 the Assembly. There’s some little issue coming together in Sacramento right now, and we’re unable to 26 leave. But if we could, Ladies and Gentlemen, if we’d stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag lead 27 by Dennis Hansberger 28 [Pledge of Allegiance is recited.] Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission Page 2 of 94 December 4, 2003 1 CHAIR CAMPBELL: I’d like to introduce Bob rberGe to talk a little bit about some of the 2 housekeeping things here for the members of the committee, and others. 3 MR. GERBER: Members of the commission, you can see in front of you, you have a number of 4 handouts. It was our endeavor to help you get organized as we go through this hearing process. We have a 5 three-ring binder in which you can place all of the material that you receive at the hearings, and we’ve 6 indexed them by the counties in which we were going to be holding the hearings. So any information that 7 we do get here, testimony that you can file in these three-ring binders. Also, you have an updated roster of 8 the membership of the commission. If you can take looka at that and see that we have all the accurate 9 information, I would appreciate it. And also you have an ID for the commission, also please take a look at 10 that. If there’s any errors or any other issues, please bring them to me and we can correct them. The other 11 thing that I would ask is if there’s anybody in the audience as well as any pagers or cell phones, if we could 12 put them on silent, that would be appreciated. Thank you. 13 CHAIR CAMPBELL: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is Bill Campbell, and I’m 14 the chair of the Governor’sBlue Ribbon Fire Commission. The members of the commission and I 15 welcome you to this second hearing, and review theof state’s efforts to combat the recent siege of 16 destructive wild land fires that engulfed many areas and damaged several communities throughout southern 17 California. As a former chair of the California State Legislature Select Committees on Fire Services, and 18 the Joint Committee on Fire, Police, Emergency and Disaster Services, I have personally witnessed the pain 19 and destruction caused by periodic wild land fires that have struck our state. During my 20-plus years in 20 the California legislature, I conducted several reviews of the steps taken by local, state and federal 21 agencies, as well as our private sector organizations, to prevent, combat and recover from the destructive 22 fires. We will learn how these resources are assessed. We will learn how they are dispatched and 23 coordinated, and we will learn how the different agencies exercise command and control and communicate 24 with one another, and what types of resources compliment one another. I propose that this commission 25 hold its third hearing on Wednesday, January 7, in the Ventura County area. And by the way, we will hold 26 one hearing in each of the five counties affected by the fires. This hearing will focus on pre-fire 27 management and fuel reduction programs, including community efforts such as those projects implemented 28 by local fire safe councils. I have also requestedpresentations be made on our previous recommendations Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission Page 3 of 94 December 4, 2003 1 for strengthening our fire-prediction programs and to improving our wild land and wild land urban interface 2 firefighting capabilities, following the similar major complications that have occurred in the past. 3 A hearing in San Diego tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, and it is my hope that 4 this hearing will focus on after-action reviews conducted by other federal, state and local entities relative to 5 the October-November fires. The San Diego hearing will be following by a hearing on specific issues of 6 interest to the commission. For example, onee ofissu particular interest to me is interagency 7 communications. This will allow a greater depth of review in areas that members want to address, or 8 obtain answers to any remaining questions. If anymember would like to recommend an area of specific 9 interest, please contact the commission’s executive secretary, Bob Gerber. A hearing will be scheduled to 10 review and discuss the commission’s draft report andpropose recommendations prior to submission to the 11 Governor. We may choose to hold an additional ng,heari or hearings, prior to this to consider any 12 additional concerns. At all hearings, individualswill be allowed to address the commission. Those who 13 wish to speak today, please see Mr. Springer at the end of the dais. Do you want to raise your hand again, 14 Blair? If you wish to submit written testimony instead, Mr. Springer can inform you of where to send that 15 information. Before we begin the presentations,I have asked Congressman Jerry Lewis, and we’re 16 extremely fortunate in the state of California to have Congressman Lewis as chair of the Subcommittee of 17 Appropriations on the defense budget, who, along withSenator Feinstein, was able to make tremendous 18 efforts on behalf of the state of California. I’ve known him for, I was going to say when we both had dark 19 hair – but I think that’s about it. That wasn’t a long time. That was a few weeks ago. [Laughter.] Anyway, 20 we’re pleased to have him here and what he and, particularly he and Senator Feinstein have done has been 21 a remarkable, remarkable achievement and will be hopefully finalized on Monday. So, Jerry, I’m going to 22 turn it over to you. Congressman Jerry Lewis. 23 CONGRESSMAN LEWIS: Thank you very much, Senator Campbell. Indeed it’s a pleasure to be 24 with my friend from the state legislature again. I particularly appreciate your chairing this commission and 25 bringing all these people together to help us focus upon perhaps one of the greatest tragedies that we’ve had 26 in California in my lifetime. I particularly wantto follow up on your comments regarding my work with 27 Diane Feinstein. I’m sorry that she can’t be here today, but she has been a tremendous partner in this 28 process as we attempted to communicate to our committees, not just the challenge of our overdeveloped Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission Page 4 of 94 December 4, 2003 1 and oft times under managed forests, but in turn dealto with the committees to try to respond to this 2 tragedy that we just recently experienced.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • U.S. NRC Assessment of Emergency Response Planning and Implementation for Large Scale Evacuations
    ~U PTJI~CNUREG/CR-69810S0 SAN D2008-1776P United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ProtectingPeople and the Environment ým~s an 'a fa ir~ Lairge Sca~a Ewacua~inss Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response AVAILABILITY OF REFERENCE MATERIALS IN NRC PUBLICATIONS NRC Reference Material Non-NRC Reference Material As of November 1999, you may electronically access Documents available from public and special technical NUREG-series publications and other NRC records at libraries include all open literature items, such as NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at books, journal articles, and transactions, Federal http://www.nrc..ov/readinq-rm.html. Publicly released Registernotices, Federal and State legislation, and records include, to name a few, NUREG-series congressional reports. Such documents as theses, publications; FederalRegister notices; applicant, dissertations, foreign reports and translations, and licensee, and vendor documents and correspondence; non-NRC conference proceedings may be purchased NRC correspondence and internal memoranda; from their sponsoring organization. .bulletins and information notices; inspection and investigative reports; licensee event reports; and Copies of industry codes and standards used in a ,Cormmission papers and their attachments. substantive manner in the NRC regulatory process are maintained at- NRC publications in the NUREG series, NRC The NRC Technical Library regulations, and Title 10, Energy, in the Code of Two White Flint North FederalRegulations may also be purchased from one 11545 Rockville Pike of these two sources. Rockville, MD 20852-2738 1. The Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office These standards are available in the library for Mail Stop SSOP reference use by the public. Codes and standards are Washington, DC 20402-0001 usually copyrighted and may be purchased from the Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov originating organization or, if they are American Telephone: 202-512-1800 National Standards, from- Fax: 202-512-2250 American National Standards Institute 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 20031113-BRC-Meeting Transcript
    1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA 2 GOVERNOR’S BLUE RIBBON FIRE COMMISSION 3 4 5 BEFORE THE GOVERNOR’S BLUE ) RIBBON FIRE COMMISSION, ) TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 6 ) November 13, 2003 Senator William Campbell, Chair ) Manhattan Beach, California 7 ) 8 9 CHAIR CAMPBELL: Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to call this meeting to order at this time. 10 We’d like to ask you to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country, and we’d like to ask 11 Senator Nell Soto to lead us in that pledge. But before we begin the pledge, I’d like to have, uh, after we 12 say the Pledge of Allegiance, that we stand for a moment of silence in memory of Steve Rucker, a member 13 of the Novato Fire Department, who lost his life in the line of duty while combating the Fires we’re looking 14 into. 15 [Pledge of Allegiance is recited.] 16 [Moment of silence.] 17 CHAIR CAMPBELL: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Senator Bill 18 Campbell, retired, and I’m chairman of this Blue Ribbon Fire Commission, and we’d like to do self 19 introductions, so Chief, if we could start with Mike here on my left and then we’ll go around there, and 20 then we’ll start with Rick and you can go around to the right. 21 CHIEF FREEMAN: Mike Freeman, Chair of the FIRESCOPE Advisory Board, Chief of Los 22 Angeles County Fire Department. rd 23 ASSEMBLYMEMBER DUTTON: Robert Dutton, California State Assembly, 63 Assembly 24 District.
    [Show full text]
  • Southern California Region Fire Safe Councils Southern California Fires As of October 31, 2003 (Approximate)
    Southern California Region Fire Safe Councils Southern California Fires as of October 31, 2003 (approximate) 22 San Luis Obispo County Kern County Santa Barbara County Piru Fire San Bernardino County Los Angeles County Grand Prix/Old/Padua Fire 34 33 41 42 Simi\Val Verde Fire Ventura 3 7 31 County 39 28 2 25 38 1 26 24 32 10 20 45 23 Orange 27 County Riverside County Mountain Fire 21 8 Fire Safe Councils Involved in the 19 44 Southern California Fires (October 2003) Roblar Fire 15 San Diego County 1 25 Lytle Creek Fire Safe Council Angeles Forest Valleys & Lakes Fire Safe Council 35 Paradise Fire 2 Angelus Oaks Fire Safe Council 26 Monrovia Fire Safe Council Imperial 27 49 County 3 Arrowhead Communities Fire Safe Council Mountain Communities FSC 17 50 16 4 Aspendell Fire Safe Council 28 Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council 55 54 51 Cedar Fire 5 Barrette Junction Fire Safe Council 29 Mt. Laguna Fire Safe Council 52 18 53 11 30 6 Benton Fire Safe Council 30 North Peak Fire Safe Council 47 48 12 29 Wrightwood Fire Safe Council 9 7 Big Bear Valley Fire Safe Council 31 Crest Fire 8 Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council 32 Oak Glen Fire Safe Council 5 46 9 Carveacre Fire Safe Council 33 Ojai Fire Safe Council 10 Crest Forest Chapter 34 Ojai Fire Safe Council and The C.R.E.W. 11 Cuyamaca Fire Safe Council 35 Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council 49 Whispering Pines FSC 12 Descanso Fire Safe Council 36 Pine Glade Fire Safe Council 50 Wynola Fire Safe Councils 13 Eastern Sierra Fire Safe Council 37 Wheeler Crest Fire Safe Council 51 Kentwood II Fire Safe Council
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 Annual Report Table of Contents
    2016 Annual Report Table of Contents 2016 Annual Report Mission Statements 2 Message from the Chief 3 Organization Chart 4 Fire Stations 5 Station Platoon Roster 6 New Hires 8 Promotions 10 Retirements 12 Significant Calls / Photos 14 State Mutual Aid Response 16 Budget 18 Department Stats 19 Fire Personnel Residence by County 20 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) 21 Office of Emergency Services 24 Community Outreach 26 Training 28 Bureau of Fire Prevention & Life Safety 29 Belmont ~ Foster City ~ San Mateo 2016 Annual Report Mission Statements Belmont Fire Department Mission Statement It is the mission of the Belmont Fire Department to; preserve life, property, and the environment as an all risk emergency services provider. Core Values Professionalism ▪ Dedication ▪ Teamwork ▪ Respect ▪ Ethical Behavior ▪ Compassion ▪ Honesty ▪ Integrity Foster City Fire Department Mission Statement The Fire Department protects lives, property and the environment from fire and exposure to hazardous materials, provides pre-hospital emergency medical care, offers programs which prepare our employees and citizens for emergencies and provides non-emergency services, including fire prevention and related code enforcement, emergency preparedness and fire prevention to residents, businesses and visitors of Foster City. Core Values Service to the Community: Delivering the highest level of service to our customers during emergency operations, citizen assists and public education programs. Integrity: Maintaining high ethical standards and treating customers and all Department members with dignity. Striving through deeds to earn the trust and respect of others. Dedication: Demonstrating loyalty to our organization and seeking and supporting continued education, training opportunities and ways to create ongoing improvement within our mission.
    [Show full text]
  • Fire Safety News
    Fire Safety News Serving the communities of Castle Creek, Champagne Village, Deer Springs, West Lilac, Gordon Hill, Hidden Meadows, Jesmond Dene, Rimrock, and the Welk Resort A 501(c)(3) Community Service Organization AUGUST 5, 2016 LIVING WITH WILDFIRE Stay Aware to Stay Alive A US Forest Service BAe 146 swoops in to drop flame retardant last month during the Sand Fire in Los Angeles County. / Photo by Craig Durling, Durling Media Inside This Issue Forward this issue to a friend When's the Best Time to Evacuate? Homeowners Guide to Situational Awareness Bees, Spiders and Rattlesnakes, Oh My! Emergency Text Messages Possible Fire District Invites You to Open House Have you heard? When's the Best Time to Evacuate? Early Last month the Sand Fire snuffed out a life in Santa Clarita. Robert Bresnick was discovered burned to death in his car as he tried to escape swirling flames on his remote property near the Angeles National Forest. According to published reports, Bresnick and his partner apparently were trying to evacuate and were rounding up their dogs when they got separated. His partner was rescued by firefighters after she became trapped by approaching flames. A firefighter called to Bresnick to direct him from harm’s way, but Bresnick may not have heard him over the roaring fire and went in the opposite direction, maybe to look for his partner. Bresnick tried to drive out and he didn’t get far. It was the last decision he would make. It is unfair to critique someone’s decision-making when a wildfire is bearing down on them.
    [Show full text]
  • 2004 Firecode 1
    FY 2004 FIRECODE LOG 10/12/2004 10:43 AM DATE ENTERED IN FFIS INCIDENT NAME JOB CODES FIRE CODE 03/26/04 SWEETWATER P4A000 A000 03/29/04 ROBERTS P8A005 A005 03/29/04 HENRY CANAL P4A009 A009 03/26/04 CIBOLA FALSE ALARM P3A00W A00W 03/26/04 CCFD 1 PNA00Y A00Y 03/29/04 SPRING BREAK PDA010 A010 03/29/04 SNOWDRIFT PNA014 A014 03/29/04 EC STATE 190 PAA017 A017 03/29/04 TRAILER PDA018 A018 03/29/04 MADDEN LAKE ROAD P1A019 A019 03/29/04 FORBES P2A01A A01A 03/29/04 HWY 90 P8A01C A01C 03/29/04 EUREKA P8A01D A01D 03/29/04 MACHINE BRANCH P8A01E A01E 03/29/04 HIGH CENTERED P8A01F A01F 03/29/04 FLINT LOCK VALLEY P8A01H A01H 08/23/04 EAST SPUR PNA01J A01J 03/29/04 KERLEY PNA01K A01K 03/29/04 CHARLEY CREEK P8A01L A01L 04/16/04 BULLDOG PRA01P A01P 03/29/04 LIGHTKEEPER P8A01S A01S 03/29/04 LITTLE TANK FIRE P8A01U A01U 03/29/04 TUNI P8A01V A01V 03/29/04 HOUE OF PRAYER P8A01W A01W 03/29/04 FIRE FLY PAA01X A01X 03/31/04 BIG SPRINGS CREEK PRA020 A020 03/30/04 BIG CREEK P8A023 A023 03/30/04 GOFORTH P8A024 A024 03/30/04 TRAILER CREEK P6A026 A026 03/30/04 HUBBLE P3A028 A028 03/30/04 ECCLES P8A029 A029 03/29/04 WEBBER P3A02B A02B 04/19/04 WEBBER REHAB IMPLEMENTATION H3A02B A02B 07/14/04 ABC MISC PDA02G A02G 03/29/04 STATE DISPATCH ASSIST PNA02N A02N 03/29/04 LILLY P3A02P A02P 03/29/04 BIG ELK P2A02Q A02Q 03/29/04 OR-DEF 0066 P6A02T A02T 03/31/04 GRADE P5A030 A030 03/31/04 ROBIN HILL P8A031 A031 03/31/04 SHORTY TOP P8A032 A032 03/31/04 APPALACHIA #1 P8A033 A033 04/05/04 CITRUS PDA034 A034 03/31/04 INDIAN CREEK P4A035 A035 03/31/04 CHIPMUNK P5A037 A037 03/31/04
    [Show full text]
  • Cedar Fire Began in the Cleveland National Forest, Cedar Creek Area Southwest of Julian, California at Approximately 1740 Hours, October 25, 2003
    CCCITYIITTYY OOOFFF SSSANAANN DDDIEGOIIEEGGOO FFFIRE-RESCUEIIRREE--RREESSCCUUEE DDDEPARTMENTEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTT cccedareeddaarr fffireiirree 222003000033 aaafterfftteerr aaactionccttiioonn rrreporteeppoorrtt JJJeeeffffff BBBooowwwmmmaaannn FFFiiirrreee CCChhhiiieeefff JJJuuunnneee 222000000444 SSSANAANN DDDIEGOIIEEGGOO FFFIRE-RESCUEIIRREE--RREESSCCUUEE CCCEDAREEDDAARR FFFIREIIRREE 22000030033 AAAFTERFFTTEERR AAACTIONCCTTIIOONN RRREPORTEEPPOORRTT AAACKNOWELDGEMENTSCCKKNNOOWWEELLDDGGEEMMEENNTTSS The following members contributed to this The information for the report was compiled report: by: Jeff Bowman Gerry Brewster Fire Chief Battalion Chief August Ghio Dave Williams Assistant Chief Battalion Chief Tracy Jarman Alan Arrollado Assistant Chief Fire Captain Jeff Frazier Doug Nakama Deputy Chief Fire Captain Perry Peake Michael Finnerty Deputy Chief Fire Captain Jon Handley Deputy Chief Robert Steadman Deputy Chief Samuel Oates Deputy Chief Monica Morgan Deputy Chief Chett Chew Fiscal & Information Services Manager Pat Nunez Human Resources Officer Susan Harris Fire Communications Manager iii TTTABLEAABBLLEE OOOFFF CCCONTENTSOONNTTEENNTTSS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 7 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ............................................................ 9 COMMAND STAFF AND INCIDENT MANAGEMENT.......................................... 10 SAFETY.....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 2.7 Hazards and Hazardous Materials 2.7.1 Existing Conditions
    2.7 Hazards and Hazardous Materials 2.7 Hazards and Hazardous Materials This section of the EIR describes the existing hazardous materials, airport, wildland fire, vector, and emergency response and evacuation plan conditions in San Diego County. This section also analyzes the proposed County General Plan Update and its potential to have a significant impact on public safety, health or the environment. Information contained in the following section has been incorporated from County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance, Hazardous Materials and Existing Contamination (DPLU 2007m), County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance, Airport Hazards (DPLU 2007h), County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance, Emergency Response Plans (DPLU 2007j), County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance, Wildland Fire and Fire Protection (DPLU 2008e), County of San Diego Guidelines for Determining Significance, Vectors (DPLU 2009e), County of San Diego General Plan Safety Element Background Report (DPLU 2007e), County of San Diego General Plan Land Use Element Background Report (DPLU 2007c) and additional resources as cited throughout the section. A summary of the hazards and hazardous materials impacts identified in Section 2.7.3 is provided below. Hazards and Hazardous Materials Summary of Impacts Impact After Issue Project Cumulative Mitigation Number Issue Topic Project Direct Impact Impact Transport, Use and Disposal 1 Less Than Significant Less Than Significant Less Than Significant of Hazardous
    [Show full text]
  • Political Economic Re-Regulation and the 2003 Southern California Wildfires
    Bush versus Schwarzenegger: Political Economic Re-regulation and the 2003 Southern California Wildfires Stentor Danielson Abstract Natural disasters provide opportunities, resources, and constraints for social agents altering their society’s mode of regulation – the rules that enable capital to function. The wildfires that struck southern California in late 2003 served this role for the regulatory goals of U.S. President George W. Bush and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The fires enabled Bush to pursue his goal of shielding business from public interference and subsidizing it with public resources by enabling him to get his Healthy Forests Initiative enacted by Congress, though with significant modifications. Schwarzenegger’s plan, under which government would absorb costs and risks faced by capital, had mixed success due to complications introduced by the fires and resistance by Bush and others. Introduction In late October and early November 2003, ten wildfires burned through the forests, chaparral, and suburbs of southern California. Nearly 3000 square kilometers were burned and 22 people lost their lives during two weeks. Five counties – San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura – were declared disaster areas. With an estimated $2 billion in damage done, the fires were the most destructive in state history. California has a reputation for being plagued by disasters, from earthquakes to droughts to wildfires (Davis 1998). The 2003 fires came on the heels of an upheaval of a political sort. California voters recalled Governor Gray Davis, who like most residents of the state is a Democrat, less than a year into his second term and put actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, into office.
    [Show full text]