Remarks by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne at Briefing with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Whiskeytown fires (As Released by the Department of the Interior

Statement

SEC. KEMPTHORNE: Governor Schwarzenegger, thank you very much. Let me compliment California, because you have a governor, a chief executive, who is very engaged. And when I speak to Governor Schwarzenegger during these fire seasons and we discuss the assets, the deployment of those assets, it's very encouraging to see the role that is properly being carried out by your Governor.

To Chief Walters, Chief Chapman, I commend you and all that you mean to all of us and to compliment all of the local officials who are here and our members of the National Guard, the National Park Service and to see the gray and green -- and again, here we are at a National Park site -- to see these magnificent firefighters. Ladies and gentlemen, you are some of the finest. And the Governor alluded to this, but what you are asked to do, you do in exemplary fashion. You understand the dangers that are out there and yet what you're doing is extraordinary. So I compliment you for that and we wish you God speed as you carry out your duties on behalf of the United States of America. I see the Student Conservation Association is here, these fine young men and women and what you mean. This is a gathering and shows the strength of the United States and this state of California, the Golden State.

To give you some idea, I will just tell you that the National Interagency Fire Center, which is located in Boise, Idaho and has all of the federal assets that are there -- and we monitor this, we make a determination as to what are the weather patterns and then we go ahead and we predeploy personnel and rolling stock. There is rolling stock and there are personnel that are being deployed as we speak, because of where we think the next ignition may be. We're going to continue our efforts, which is the philosophy of initial attack. We have a 97 percent success rate. Knock the fires down, that is our strategy and, again, it's these men and women and these chiefs that are bringing this about.

To give you some idea of what we're facing in this part of the state, the fire load is unprecedented that is here. The amount of fire for June is unprecedented. The type of lightning and ignition which you have been experiencing this month normally doesn't occur until August. And when you consider that you have some of the toughest fuel load, fuel type, including the chaparral and the pines and some of the toughest terrain, these conditions are very, very stark and that's why it requires all of working together.

I bring to CAL FIRE this message and that is one of thanks, because CAL FIRE is one of those exemplary organizations. And when we think that there should be a seamless approach between federal, state and local assets, I think if you come to California you find that is the case.

One of the things that I have made sure of with Governor Schwarzenegger and that is that he has my personal cell phone number. Last year, when we saw the Santa Ana winds beginning to set up, I called the Governor and told him how we had predeployed and if there was ignition we'd be ready. But, again, affirming that he had my cell number so that if there is any interruption that he determines of federal assets, then he calls and we bring those assets to bear.

Let me also give a big vote of thanks to this greater Redding area, to the communities of Redding and the surrounding neighboring areas, to these local units of government. This has one of the best examples in the country of a proactive, coordinated effort on fire safe and fire watch. That's one of the most significant things that citizens can do to help these firefighters and that is to keep reducing the amount of fuel load that may be near the structures, near the homes. If this weekend, if you just make a real effort to see that those leaves, the greenery that goes up to the eaves of your home, we need to get them back. That's going to help these firefighters. That's what this team effort is about. And again, the greater Redding area and your communities and your leaders here really are an example that have been so successful.

During the last eight years the Department of the Interior has spent about $2 billion and have treated now 10 million acres. To give you an idea, that is equivalent to the size of the state of Maryland. So that when you think of these terrains and you can get in there and you can do the fuels treatment, you can do the thinning. You can deal with this ladder effect, so that when you do have these thousands of lightning strikes during the day and they hit that fuel load on the floor, boy, if they've got a ladder they're going to that crown. And then ignition there, it can create its own storm, sending these embers one and two miles ahead, creating winds of 60 to 70 miles an hour. So the citizens have a real role to play and we thank them for what they are doing.

The national preparedness level is Level four. Level five is the utmost. Now, the significance is that the season, the fire season, historically begins in July or August and here we've been at this May and June. As the Governor and I have discussed, the fire season now in the United States begins one month earlier and lasts one month longer. The drought conditions which you're experiencing here in California adds to that. The firefighters and the machines are going to be pressed to the maximum.

The safety of our firefighters, the safety of our citizens, is number one, then to prevent destruction to the structures and then to significant natural resources. All of us need to work at this. And I think, as Chief Walters or Chief Chapman would affirm, in this particular area you have such tough terrain that there are areas that are inaccessible. And so we have to ask the citizenry to be patient, because this smoke is not going to immediately go away and they're ready for the next wave of storms that will hit.

I will just give you an idea, too, on this national perspective. We have 22,000 federal firefighters that are deployed during this fire season at this time. On the number of engines, we have 1,426, of which 1,270 are here in California. We have the Type One and Two crews -- which are the 20-member firefighting crews -- of 502 nationally, 429 are here in California. Of the helicopters, of 119, 96 are here in California. Of the fixed-wing, 17, 11 are here in California.

So we will continue to work with the Governor and his tremendous team with the great leadership that you have at the state level and the local officials that are here and the military and the coordination that you bring about. And so, with all of the federal assets working with state and local, we have the right team. We have significant challenges ahead. It's going to be a tough fire season, so it will require all of us continuing to work together and supporting each other. So God bless you, firefighters and citizens.

END.

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