Nov. 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Saturday visited damage from the Northern California’s Camp Fire, saying it was “a really, really bad one” — with 71 dead, nearly 1,000 missing and 150,000 acres scorched.
Trump flew to California and surveyed the scene Saturday in Butte County.
His presidential motorcade pulled into a mobile home and RV park in the badly damaged town of Paradise.
“Right now we want to take care of the people who have been so badly hurt,” Trump said. “This is very sad to see. As far as the lives are concerned, nobody knows quite yet.”
Trump said he was surprised at the level of destruction.
“Hopefully, this will be the last of these, because it was a really, really bad one,” the president said. “People have to see this to really understand it.”
As reporters questioned him, Trump stood by his remarks last week when he threatened on Twitter to withhold federal funds, blaming forest management for “gross mismanagement of the forests.”
“Other countries do it differently, it’s a whole different story,” Trump said, citing purported comments from the president of Finland on how that country deals with its forests.
They engage in “raking and cleaning things and they don’t have any problem,” he added.
Trump then stopped in Southern California where the fire was 92 percent contained but 98,362 acres burned and 836 buildings were destroyed, according to Cal Fire.
In Northern Caliufornia, Trump avoided his criticism of California’s fire and forest management and praised the state’s first responders.
“We do have to do management, maintenance. We’ll be working also with environmental groups,” Trump said. “I think everybody’s seen the light.
“We’re all on the same page now. Everybody’s looking at that. It’s going to work out well,” he added.
That included unit with Gov. Jerry Brown, who is a Democratic rival.
“Hopefully, this will be the last of these, because it was a really, really bad one,” the president said. “People have to see this to really understand it.”
California Professional Firefighters President Brian K. Rice, who has called the president’s tweet “ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning” to victims and firefighters, said Trump’s visit was welcome.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office has published a list of 630 missing individuals. The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN each reported the number of people missing has topped 1,000.
The largest and deadliest fire in state history, the Camp Fire has grown to 148,000 acres since it was started on Nov. 8, according to Cal Fire. It is 55 percent contained but destroyed were 9,844 residences, 336 commercial buildings and 2,076 other buildings.
Authorities hope to reach full containment of the blaze by Nov. 30.
Air quality has suffered as the fire continues to burn. At 5 p.m. local time Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency said San Francisco’s air quality was at 158 on the air quality index, considered unhealthy, while other parts of the Bay Area had index readings considered very unhealthy.
Earlier Friday, index readings peaked at 271 in San Francisco on Thursday, making it the worst air quality in the city’s recorded history, the Chronicle reported.
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