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President Donald Trump got a mostly warm welcome Saturday as he toured the ashes of Paradise, at the center of California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record, a calamity he again blamed on poor forest management.
“One thing that really touched me is that he said, ‘We have to help these people because they’re my people’,” said Paradise Mayor Jody Jones, who toured what was left of a 55-unit mobile-home park with Trump and other local and state officials. Jones, whose own house burned to the ground, said the President meant it “the way I mean it — that we’re all Americans.”
Hours after Trump left to fly to Southern California, where he toured Malibu, hard hit by the Woolsey Fire, authorities announced that the Camp Fire has killed at least 76 people — more than double the toll from a 1933 fire that had been the state’s deadliest — since it erupted Nov. 8. They said 1,276 people are still unaccounted for, though they noted that the list may include people who haven’t notified officials that they are safe.
The blaze destroyed 9,700 homes, 144 apartments and 336 commercial properties, leaving little left of Paradise. By Saturday it had spread to 149,000 acres and was 55 percent contained.
PG&E also reported late Friday that it detected a malfunction in a distribution line in the town of Concow at 6:45 a.m. the morning of the fire. That malfunction could be linked to the mysterious “second start” of the Camp Fire that Cal Fire is investigating in that area east of Concow reservoir.
Saturday’s trip was only Trump’s second visit to California since his election two years ago after a trip in March to see border wall prototypes outside San Diego and to attend a fundraiser in Beverly Park.
But while California overall has been hostile territory, with state leaders battling the President over immigration and climate policy, Butte County is Trump country, choosing him over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Hundreds of his backers, many wearing face masks to filter the smoky air and holding U.S. flags, lined the streets of Chico, a college town 12 miles west of Paradise, to catch a glimpse of his motorcade.
“I can’t believe he’s in Chico — it’s just wild,” said Chico State University business student Brittany Dekreek, who was among a crowd of Trump supporters along the main route from Chico to Paradise waiting to see the President pass by. “With all the people who are suffering right now, it’s really great that he’s coming.”
One opponent of the President, in apparent response to Trump’s repeated suggestion that bad forest management contributed to the Camp Fire, held a sign saying, “Moron, we’re in a drought.”
Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Governor and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom met Trump when he arrived mid-morning at Beale Air Force base near Marysville. The president arrived in Paradise, wearing a camouflage “USA” cap, after flying in a helicopter over the fire area. He stopped in front of an American flag hanging from what was left of a burned structure, walked between strewn, blackened ovens, a metal shelf with charred plant pots on top, burned-out cars.
“This is very sad to see,” Trump said afterward. “It’s total devastation. The federal government is behind you.”
The President’s tour brought him close to the home of Brad Weldon, one of the few in Paradise who fought the blaze instead of evacuating.
“It’s good he showed up,” said Weldon, who voted for Trump. “Not too many people have seen this much devastation in one place. He’s seen hurricanes and tornadoes, but fires are different. There’s nothing left.”
Trump described as “incredible” the men and women battling the Camp Fire. “They’re out there fighting and they’re fighting like hell,” he said.
Cal Fire engineer Bethany Breese, 28, a Trump supporter from Redding, appreciated the President’s backing.
“Just having that support from higher up helps keep us happy,” Breese said.
Trump also had praise for police officers and other first-responders who helped evacuate residents and kept people safe as flames tore through communities.
Two days after the fire started, Trump blamed “poor” forest management and suggested federal funding for it would be cut off if it wasn’t fixed, drawing a sharp rebuke from the head of a state firefighters union who called the remark ill-informed.
The Camp Fire is believed to have started in or near Plumas National Forest, spreading initially on federal property.
Saturday, Trump again said forest management “seems to be a very big problem.” He mentioned that Finland, “a forest nation,” spends “a lot of time raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem.”
Trump said he spoke with Brown and Newsom about forest management during his trip and believes there will be cooperation with the state on reducing fire danger.
“We’re all going to work together and we’ll do a real job,” Trump said. “I know Gavin’s committed, we’re all committed, I’m committed to make sure that we get all of this cleaned out and protected.”
Brown offered simply that “what needs to be done is what’s being done” but thanked Trump “for putting his focus and spotlight on probably the worst tragedy that California has ever seen.”
Asked whether climate change played a role in the fire, Trump said “a lot of factors” contributed but that they didn’t change his thinking on the matter.
“I want a great climate,” Trump said. “We’re going to have that and I think we’re going to have forests that are really safe.”
Outside the firefighting command center in Chico where officials briefed Trump, a handful of protesters and dozens of the President’s supporters watched his motorcade come and go. The president didn’t stop to talk with residents, nor did he tour the evacuation centers.
Protester Carlos Lopez of Chico argued with Trump fans, and said he thought Trump’s comments about forest management were divisive and offensive.
“What we need now is federal money and help,” Lopez said. “It sickens me that he’s here, and I don’t want him here.”
But just down the road, Terri Cooper, 57, was overjoyed at having seen Trump pass by in his motorcade.
“He gets us and he cares about us,” she said. “This isn’t a political situation — it’s about people and community.”
Chico Enterprise-Record reporter Bianca Quilantan and Associated Press contributed to this report.
