Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger flew up to the North State to spend some time recognizing area firefighters for their work (click here for photos). There have been several outbreaks in forested areas [good thing they aren’t all "roadless" so our fire crews can get at the fires…oops, did I say that?] The challenge [so far] was the Junction Fire in Trinity County, just west of Weaverville which is west of Redding about 50 miles. The difficulty here was to keep the fire from sweeping through Weaverville as had happened to over 20 structures and homes during a big fire in 2001. This blaze came from farther west and had a wind pushing it towards town, just a couple miles away, even shutting down Hwy 299. The quick work of the CDF units in the area and others drawn in from other north state CDF units, combined with the local departments, volunteers from Weaverville, Junction City, Douglas City, Salyer, Lewiston and several other responders, were able to knock the fire down and contain it within 3 days.
Limiting this fire to just over 3100 acres and the loss of just one structure, reportedly one which had not prepared a 100 foot ‘defensible space’ firebreak around it was what the Governor was up to commend these crews for, a big win in what promises to be a very tough fire season this year. With the huge amount of rain and specifically, late spring rains this year, there is much more foliage to be fuel for fire.
The Guv was very much at ease with everyone and thankful for their efforts, taking time to greet just about everyone at the CDF complex at the Redding Airport. Over 800 personnel were involved in the Junction blaze, including US Forest Service, with a fair amount on hand at this event. After sharing some thoughts and thanks, he settled in for a good bag lunch with the firefighters and relaxed and was one of the guys. I think he was really enjoying the day as there wasn’t the frenetic pace that frequently surrounds some of his stops. The NorCal media was there and kept it pretty light and actually spent much time interviewing the firefighters themselves.
But then our old Chico buddy and Angel Ides spokesmodel, Bob "Lifes not fair, I’m going home to eat worms" Mulholland chimed in later with it ‘being a campaign event’ with only 12 weeks to go before November. Hmm, I didn’t hear a peep about campaigns or elections by the Guv. He is the top state elected official, perhaps it’s possible that this could be part of his job as he sees it. When we had March primaries, we were never more than 16 months from the next election. Heck, if you want to look at it that cynically, everything is always about the next election, all the time. Or is statesmanship actually possible?
One thing about this Governor, despite skirmishes with the left or right, he really does care about the people and is in his element with them. You can see it, especially when not hurried by all the pressures of moving around this vast state, including with the firefighters themselves. Thanks for coming up, Governor.