JUST IN: Gov. Gavin Newsom Provides Major Update On The Borel Fire

3 months ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and public safety officials held a press briefing to provide updates on the Borel Fire and efforts to contain it.

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Transcript

00:00Good morning everyone my name is Derek Tisinger I'm a division chief with the Kern County

00:22Fire Department and part of this collaborative team effort like to thank our law enforcement

00:26agencies Kern County Sheriff CHP to help with the evacuations they're always a big part

00:32of this. In cooperation with us we have the U.S. Forest Service the Bureau of Land Management

00:37Cal OES Cal Fire and a host of other agencies we really thank our cooperators it makes me

00:43really proud to be part of this team more and more every year. We have a special honor

00:47and privilege we have Governor Gavin Newsom and some of his staff here today with us Director

00:52Ward as well as Cal Fire Chief Tyler. We have a great brief for you today with some

01:00updated incident information and without further ado I'd like to introduce our first speaker

01:05Unified IC Battalion Chief of Kern County Fire Jake Cagle. Good morning everybody so

01:14I stand here in front of you we're under unified command we are managing three different fires

01:20that is the trout fire the long fire as well as the Burrell fire we are unified command

01:26with United States Forest Service Bureau Land Management and Kern County Fire Department

01:31representing Cal Fire. So in that addition we have a lot of support some cooperating

01:37agencies that are supporting us through this incident and that's the California Governor's

01:41Office of Emergency Services the County of Kern County of Tulare as well as the Kern

01:48County Sheriff's Department and so you know the Burrell started it on the 24th and we

01:55saw multiple days of erratic and rapid fire spread and that was all under red flag conditions

02:05extreme temperatures low relative humidity strong gusty winds so our firefighters were

02:12challenged out there there was a very aggressive firefight we went direct that is the

02:17action that we like to take to mitigate the aggression that they did that really mitigated

02:24further challenges and impacts to life safety critical infrastructure and property so I

02:32really appreciate all the hard work that everybody's done on this incident I'd like to thank the

02:39governor for your support for being here and your staff as we are very busy in the state

02:44of California it's still early still early fire season we have fires in Northern California

02:49Southern California as well as the Western United States so we're challenged with resources

02:54and that's one of the challenges we're faced with this incident like other incidents but

02:58we are doing our due diligence to ensure that we're getting around this fire and taking

03:02care of this incident also our thoughts are with the Kern River Valley community we are

03:08we are there in our thoughts and we're here we will continue to be vigilant to get around

03:13this incident to not impact any more property life safety and critical infrastructure thank

03:20you our next presenter is going to be Chief Tyler from CAL FIRE well good morning everyone

03:29my name is Joe Tyler I'm the director and fire chief at CAL FIRE it is an honor and

03:34a privilege to be able to come down and get a briefing from California incident to California

03:40complex incident management team 11 in unified command with the Kern County Fire Department

03:46and I too want to thank the efforts of all the women and men who are here on this fire

03:51today and have been for the last few days fighting this fire and making great progress

03:58across the landscape now as was said earlier there is significant fire activity occurring

04:04across California and across the Pacific Northwest and some people might ask are there

04:10sufficient resources in California well we are one of the most complex fire service systems

04:19and mutual aid systems in the nation as part of this mutual aid system we have two geographic

04:24coordination areas that is unlike anywhere in the United States we are broken up with

04:30two geographic coordination areas in the state the folks that work in those locations

04:36in Redding and in Riverside are utilizing and dispersing resources across the 23 large

04:41fires and specifically the Burrell and the Park fire that's occurring in Butte County

04:48likewise resources are being dispatched across Oregon and Washington to meet the needs of

04:55all the large fires that are occurring now we I think I lost the volume so as as those

05:04resources continue to pour in we recognize the need to order additional resources so

05:13working with our partners at Cal OES we continue to reach out and ask for resources across

05:19the United States and various states are bringing resources into us as well as aircraft

05:26those are being managed volumes back on those are being managed across the across the state

05:33to meet the needs of the incident management teams who are leading the charge to mitigate

05:38these incidents it is great work that we're seeing here locally and I want to thank again

05:44everyone who has been here on the ground mitigating this incident and the others across

05:50California it is now my honor to introduce the governor of the state of California Gavin

05:57Newsom thank you all thank you all for being out here particularly let me just thank the

06:03men and women in uniform those behind me those in front of me those are out there on the

06:07lines working hard to address what has become very familiar in the state of California summertime

06:15the challenge is that the hot's getting a lot hotter dry is getting a lot drier the wet's

06:19getting a lot wetter and all the impact that's having after years and years of drought and then

06:24two very very wet rainy seasons the early grass the brush this was anticipated this was exactly

06:32as we had imagined early part of the summer to be that said we're seeing multiples of challenges

06:40just to put it in perspective right today right now we're reflecting on the fact this fire season

06:46has already begun with over 4,600 fires to date burning over 750,000 acres put that in perspective

06:53the last five years the average it's been about 4,400 fires and about 140,000 acres burned 140,000

07:03to 750,000 that we are battling here today I want to thank supervisor Peters for being here I want

07:10to thank representatives of Senator Grove and her office for being here I want to thank Chief Cagle

07:15and his team for all their hard work I want to thank everyone for the collaborative spirit the

07:20spirit of partnership that has been a big part of the success the early success of the containment

07:27now 17 percent on this complex as was noted the trout and the long have substantially been tamed

07:34borel component of this we still have work to do particularly on the east side but the containment

07:41at 17 percent is real progress the progress obviously of mother nature with these relatively

07:47calm winds it's all relative out here mindful those conditions can radically change but one

07:54condition that we maintain is vigilance and the investment that we've made historic investment

07:59in personnel the next level cooperation in terms of the mutual aid system nothing else like it

08:05anywhere in the United States of America the partnerships that are well established

08:10as it relates to BLM the U.S. Forest Service the work that's being done at the county level not

08:15just with current county fire department the county sheriff's office and the great work

08:20they're doing the work that continues to be done in partnership with CAL FIRE and the office

08:25emergency service and I'll just note as it relates to CAL FIRE when I got here as governor

08:30just six or so years ago we had about 6,700 personnel at CAL FIRE today over 9,700 men and

08:38women working at CAL FIRE it's a record number 365 engines fully staffed we have the finest and the

08:45largest civil aerial suppression fleet anywhere on planet earth that's in the possession of the

08:52people the state of California and we're doing everything we can to operationalize that that

08:58said the park fire up north where I was just 48 hours ago that's a fire that now is the sixth

09:05largest in California history and that fire is now over 384,000 acres and growing that fire has

09:15required a lot of mutual aid from outside of this state and I would be wrong if I did not acknowledge

09:23our appreciation and respect for governor Abbott in Texas he just sent 25 engines

09:28our way as part of our mutual aid system sort of reinforcing the paradigm of partnership

09:34at these critical moments and so to all those governors that have called that have offered

09:40support and equipment and personnel to those that have received it from us as early as just a few

09:45weeks ago up in Oregon when we had to recall some of the folks we brought over the border it's just

09:51a reminder of the world we're living in and the new challenges that we face moving forward so

09:58vigilance preparedness and appropriate response and mitigation and that's the strategy and that's

10:06the that's that's why we're out here just advancing not just on the strategy but but advancing on an

10:13expression of gratitude to everybody that's working 24-7 and has made so much progress here

10:21at this site and to the people that have been impacted I just want to say this you know I've

10:26been at this for a while up in Greenville California Grizzly Flats California I started

10:32with President Trump at the time up there at Paradise towns wiped off the map places

10:39lifestyles traditions that's what this is really all about at the end of the day

10:44it's about people it's about history it's about memories and so I know how personal it is for

10:50folks and that's why I'll be driving up to an old gold mining community I grew up in a town called

10:55Dutch Flat I was literally born of the gold rush not dissimilar so many of the communities and

11:00towns around here and so we'll see that devastation firsthand which is just remarkable that we're

11:07seeing so many of these iconic places in California that are being quite literally

11:13devastated by these new realities so again respect appreciation for everyone impacted

11:20in closing in that spirit we just signed a few moments ago an emergency proclamation

11:27that will make additional resources available you've been seeing the hand crews out there

11:31from our conservation corps you've seen the work incredible work that the National Guard does

11:37across this state and swiss army knife for all kinds of operations this emergency proc will allow

11:45more National Guards men and women to help support your efforts not just in the immediate

11:49but in the aftermath in the mopping as we say things up and getting people back on their feet

11:55as it relates to unemployment insurance we'll be able to fast track some of that access as well as

12:01waiving any fees associated with getting support all of those component parts of the emergency

12:06proclamation final words I had an opportunity to connect with the White House President Biden

12:14who has been immediate in his responses he said in a voicemail I just got he said the answer is yes

12:20and I haven't even asked the question and so I just want to also thank the White House for their

12:24support that's unsurprising that's the spirit again the partnership that defines this moment

12:30in so many moments as it relates to similar challenges that we've been faced I'll close

12:35final final words this is the beginning of the season and I may have frankly overstated

12:44what we had anticipated late June and July as I noted by the acres 750,000 versus 140,000

12:53which is the five-year average this I won't say this is an exponential but we're seeing

13:00significantly more intense activity and so I pray that people are mindful of these evacuation

13:07orders they take them seriously you can replace a home you can't replace a life I mean this is

13:13a sober and serious thing listen to the pros listen to the sheriff listen to local law enforcement

13:21your own instincts and your own experience lived experience about quickly these things move and

13:27how devastating these wildfires are there's nothing more devastating than learning about

13:33someone who's out there with their hose thinking they can pull back when there's 70 80 mile an

13:38hour winds and spotting everywhere and breaks your heart and so I encourage everyone to take advantage

13:45of being prepared this wildfire season you can always go to our fire.ca.gov site to learn about

13:52operational situational awareness but also we have prevailed we have all kinds of resources

13:59at Cal OES in order to make you fire safe and fire ready and to prepare you for the

14:06rest of a fire season that with respect may not even be a season any longer remember

14:12campfire was in November it's not just August and September and October but likely November

14:19December that we'll be fighting the ferocity of mother nature and these fires so again gratitude

14:26to everybody here assembled appreciation respect for all the work that you've done and the hard

14:31work that you have in front of you and with that we're all here to answer any questions

14:39hello governor thank you for coming in the first question you touched on a little bit as it goes to

14:43unemployment insurance and things of that nature what do grants look like from your office to the

14:50folks that are affected by this directly yeah we haven't been we're trying to get to that point

14:55as it relates to the threshold that is required to get the federal grants as individual assistance

15:00grants as it relates to the specifics of the proclamation it weighs that one week period

15:06where you have to wait for unemployment insurance and fast tracks that there's a series of other

15:11specific action items as it relates to procurement and contracting and overtime and personnel that

15:19i referenced our team can lay that out in detail as relates to proclamation but we are assessing

15:24the damage i'll be personally doing that uh the 45 minute drive right after this to see the number of

15:31structures that have been damaged there's a lot of different numbers out there as it relates to the

15:36number of buildings and structures once that determination is made it will allow me to go back

15:40directly to the president and the white house uh to seek the federal uh support which would avail

15:47uh that direct relief just a quick follow-up to that i know that with uh as we said we're already

15:52in july we're only in july i should say only in the season will continue to last longer um what do

15:56you do you think there will be enough availability if more fires continue to ravage through current

16:00county we've seen around a thousand so far well we look i i was asking the chief a moment ago

16:05nothing distills a sense of well-being more than coming to a situation like this and seeing local

16:12fire departments uh and to see these trucks from all over the damn state uh for that matter around

16:16the country and we've seen in the past around the world you know one few years ago that i was there

16:21the office emergency service in sacramento and a team came from israel folks from australia

16:28remember talking to justin trudeau up in canada they sent down personnel as well so people quite

16:34literally from around the world so your question is a sobering one based upon how stretched we've

16:39been traditionally we wouldn't have been so stressed if it was california specific but a lot

16:45of that mutual aid was being stretched to west wide fires which had become more and more the norm

16:51and so that's why these partnerships are so important but look uh we put we didn't cut the

16:56budget you know i know a lot of conversations about state budget it was balanced but not on

17:01your backs 2.6 billion dollars still unprecedented historic next level unprecedented historic

17:08investments in lidar and ai technology and drone technology and black hawk helicopters that now

17:14have night vision the c-130s that we said we're not going to wait for the pentagon anymore grateful

17:19they provided satellite access and technology but we're not we weren't happy with how slow the c-130s

17:25were in terms of getting that cal fire flag so we took all seven of them ourself the first one uh

17:31we are is being retrofitted in real time all seven will be operationalized uh in a number of

17:37months a little over a year uh we're working our tail off to get that done so we're doing everything

17:41we possibly can and as i noted uh we haven't skimped on staffing at least in terms of cal

17:46fires effort 9700 is a record number of personnel uh chief taylor has and again to chief taylor

17:53just thank you as well he's been all over the damn state in the last few days and his state

17:57of mind is vigilance uh and very mindful of the importance of of of getting more personnel from

18:04all over the country and again i'll just i'll end because i think it's important you know the reason

18:09i make a call to greg abbott to thank him is because i may need to make another one first of

18:16all it's out of respect and gratitude grace and humility but it's also mindful that we may need

18:21more support uh and to get you know i got a call from governors out there in the east coast

18:27they were willing to send personnel and that's a hell of a thing uh so uh we are well resourced

18:32uh it's just a timeliness issue uh that is the challenge

18:40hi governor thank you so much for your time i want to talk about night operations a bit more

18:44a couple days ago we were told that crews would be stepping up efforts to fight the fire night

18:50and day um i just want to ask what the resources at night time look like and how that's contributed

18:56to continue we've got our situational experts here whoever is the best to answer the question

19:04thank you for the question so yes we do staff a night shift uh resources it was instrumental in

19:09this incident uh specifically uh to the uh towns of bodfish and lake isabella proper so

19:15crews rolling stock which is engines and dozers all working through the night but in addition to

19:21that uh aircraft support it's called qrf uh quick response force uh having night vision

19:28capability so we were able to keep aircraft on the incident all night which made significant

19:33difference uh and and part of our success of locking off the piece that minimize the impact

19:38over into bodfish as well as lake isabella and one thing we saw up at the park fire

19:47is those 24-hour operations again weather conditions conditions more broadly defined

19:53uh being foundational uh but to see the night night hawk those infrared goggles these guys

20:02just doing 24-7 suppression that's part of the investments we've made in the last few years

20:06that make that uh that technology available which is profoundly important anyone else

20:13more awesome relations between yourself and governor habit of texas haven't always been

20:20warm can you tell us how incidents like this sharing of resources change that political

20:26dynamic and there's no no change it's been consistent from day one uh there's just you

20:32know i said all the time we're we have a open hand not a closed fist when it comes to emergency

20:37management emergency preparedness i made that point when i was working with president trump

20:41i don't know there was a democrat america was working more collaboratively on issues related

20:46emergency preparedness and planning and management uh then then california and the white house uh

20:53despite all the back and forth uh that was going on uh when it comes to people and when it comes

20:59to protecting uh and preserving um we're all in this together and we say you know many parts one

21:07body and uh and so we're all in this together and i just have no interest i don't even that

21:13dynamic of politics when it comes to emergency preparedness and planning means nothing to me

21:17greg abbott uh i gotta say means a lot to us because he's been there consistently over the

21:21last few years but we've also uh mindful just this year we send aircraft uh his way we've

21:27we've been very quietly supporting his efforts as well as it should be always could you elaborate

21:33just a bit on the proclamation you solved is that you signed is there a dollar figure and how's that

21:38process going yeah it's it's look this is separate from a fema application for a federal fmac or what

21:45we refer to these individual assistance you have to reach a threshold in order to get there so we're

21:50assessing that in real time so i separate an emergency proc which allows for all these state

21:55resources it's not money it's available it's state-backed support that will expedite and

22:02waive fees and processes delays and provide more personnel which is all resourced back but it's

22:10more about resourcefulness and flexibility time to delivery but again that deeper assessment

22:18is being made we go through a very detailed process it can be stubborn it's very frustrating

22:24people don't understand while their community may be devastated it doesn't hit a dollar threshold

22:29that's established as a federal line we're constantly working the margins with fema to

22:36convince them it's not just about a dollar figure it's about the impact the totality

22:42impact has on a community that's been wiped off the map and so we'll be making those points but

22:47i need to also make those points having visually seen that site and we'll be going up there assessing

22:52in just a few moments

22:58anybody else well thank you again everybody just uh hats off and

23:02you know when you see a guy or gal in uniform give them a damn hug thank you guys very much

JUST IN: Gov. Gavin Newsom Provides Major Update On The Borel Fire

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