Schwarzenegger added that officials did an "extraordinary job" in their efforts by bringing in fire equipment, coordinating firefighters and National Guard troops and evacuating thousands of residents. However, an investigation headed by the Associated Press reveals a different story, accounting that nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two cargo planes were grounded by bureaucracy as flames spread. The Navy, Marine and California National Guard helicopters were grounded for a day partly because state rules require all firefighting choppers to be accompanied by state forestry "fire spotters" who coordinate water or retardant drops. By the time those spotters arrived, the high winds made flying too dangerous. Additionally, it was revealed that the National Guard's C-130 cargo planes were not part of the firefighting arsenal because long-needed retrofits have yet to be completed. The tanks they need to carry thousands of gallons of fire retardant were promised four years ago. Dave Hillman, Cal Fire chief, defended the state's response and said, "I think our firefighters did an excellent job.” In all, fires have raced across 490,000 acres -- or 765 square miles. They were fanned early in the week by Santa Ana winds that produced gusts topping 100 mph.
Monday, 29 October 2007 02:03
Gov. Schwarzenegger Under Fire For States Response To Southern California Fires
And speaking of the Southern California fires, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is under fire as questions arise
over the state's initial response to those Southern wildfires. Some political leaders from Southern
California have stated that the state was slow to use firefighting
aircraft while the governor counters that high winds are what initially kept
some planes and helicopters grounded. Schwarzenegger met with officials on Friday
at the Office of Emergency Services headquarters in Rancho
Cordova. There he defended fire authorities during a new
conference by saying, "We
deployed all of our resources that we safely could deploy, at all times."
