From a decade ago, a week and a half after the start of one of the worst fires in U.S. history, below is a letter by local officials to then Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger outlining the lack of response by the State to a means of getting additional firefighting equipment in the air.
It is worth a read today, as both a cautionary tale and what became a vehicle for change.
In the wake of the Cedar Fire tragedy, I’m proud of the truth that was told and the small part I played in piecing together and putting to pen the thoughts of those signing this letter.
Schwarzenegger did respond. The signers and San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob subsequently played a significant lead role in driving changes that to this day have better equipped us to respond to wildfires.
November 3, 2003
Governor Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger
770 L Street, Suite 800
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor-Elect Schwarzenegger:
As elected officials representing the areas of San Diego County suffering the most extensive damage and loss of life in the 2003 California wildfires and now in the history of the state (Cedar Fire), we write this letter with both heavy hearts and outrage. We have witnessed first hand the extensive breakdowns in communication, bureaucratic roadblocks and unresponsiveness that in some cases delayed readily available assets from responding to this terrible tragedy for longer than four days.
Let us make it very clear we are not referring in any way to the actions of the many firefighters and local fire, public safety and volunteer relief agencies that have been working tirelessly to fight this fire and respond so heroically. We absolutely applaud our firefighters and their efforts. They have done wonders with the resources they have.
At the outset, local fire chiefs had been clamoring for more resources to fight the fire, and at the time no air resources had yet been assigned. Since day one, many of us have been working to get them more resources, and we find it outrageous that resources available and directly offered by the federal government at the highest levels were left “on the table,” unused, at a crucial time, when they were desperately needed.
We too understand that the combined wind conditions and visibility problems as the result of smoke in the early stages would have made it nearly impossible to put military planes and helicopters in the air simply because they were available. Yet, because many of these resources were in other parts of the country and required staging closer to the fire, timeliness was of the essence in transferring and readying the assets, as well as ensuring they were as close as possible on immediate standby.
At the beginning of this fire, on Sunday (10/26/03), Congressman Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, secured a pledge by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, that all the assets the Department of Defense has for firefighting purposes would be available for California’s use. General Myers provided his home telephone number and asked that someone in charge of the firefighting effort in California or a higher authority simply call him and request the resources. These resources include six C-130 aircraft, equipped as Mobile Aerial Firefighting (MAF) units, two stationed in California at Point Magu, two in Colorado Springs and two on the East Coast. The units outside California would be immediately dispatched to Point Magu for staging upon the request being made to General Myers from California.
Senator Dennis Hollingsworth and Assemblymembers Jay La Suer and George Plescia were in immediate contact with Ray Snodgrass, chief of the California Department of Forestry, to advise him that General Myers could be called at home at any time. Snodgrass indicated he would look into the offer, and continued to indicate for two days the committees that would have to meet and the bureaucratic protocols that were required to take place between CDF, the U.S. Forestry Service, and the U.S. Department of Defense prior to military assets being utilized.
Over the course of the next day – from Sunday and into Monday – the legislators and other officials made several phone calls and faxed a letter (10/26/03) to make contact with Governor Davis, in an effort to have a direct conversation with him about the military’s offer, the possibility that a misunderstanding existed within the bureaucracy as to the Governor’s authority in this regard, and – at the very least – to get the aircraft transferred to California for preparation and proximity. Aides to the Governor called the legislators back to lecture them as to appropriate protocols and bureaucratic procedures.
As busy as the Governor was at the time with fires throughout the state, it is still appalling to us that the Congressman, State Senator, Assemblymembers and County Supervisor representing some of the most ravaged areas in California could not get a phone call returned, especially in an effort to release additional firefighting resources.
Several elected officials held a press conference on Monday, 10/27/03, in an attempt to utilize the media to break what clearly appeared to be bureaucratic morass and to obtain additional and immediate resources. The purpose was not to criticize the efforts on the ground, although it was construed as such and reported incorrectly by many throughout the state who simply were not as close to the situation as we were to witness the reality of the situation.
Two days after first trying to make contact with him, an aide to Governor Davis responded in a San Diego press conference that all required requests from California had been made in a letter on the first day of the fire, and that the tie-up was with the U.S. Forest Service and federal regulations. Sadly, that is not the case. Although federal law requires the fire bureaucracy to exhaust all civilian contracted resources prior to utilizing military assets, it also allows a governor to make that request directly. As the result of Congressman Hunter’s efforts, we had the military’s top brass offering air attack resources that were desperately needed by the troops on the ground, and the CDF and higher bureaucracies simply never made a phone call.
Certainly we recognize that criticizing the Governor for rebuffing our efforts to secure more firefighting resources might be labeled as partisan politics. Yet, we think it would have been irresponsible for us not to speak up for the line firefighters protecting our constituents’ lives and property, when homes are burning, the federal government has offered, and no one is responding.
At this point, it is not about Governor Davis. It is about the future, and fixing the existing roadblocks to a sane, coordinated, multi-faceted response.
As late as Wednesday, 10/29/03, three days after Congressman Hunter’s conversation with General Myers, at least six Navy helicopters based in San Diego were still not in use on the fire. Reports indicated that Navy personnel, including the pilots themselves, were begging for this equipment to be put into action. Apparently, although the units had been certified for use by the City of San Diego to fight fires within its borders, such was not the case in other parts of San Diego County.
CDF gave explanations as far reaching as these helicopters having communications systems incompatible with other aircraft being used, to the inexperience of the pilots in carrying water to fight fires. At the same time, a CDF air traffic coordinator was on KFMB radio the afternoon of Wednesday, 10/29/03, indicating he was not aware the helicopters were even available until the talk show host told him. Alternatively, a U.S. Forestry Service official said the pilots were in the process of being trained. No one was disputing the fact that these are highly trained Navy pilots with the capability of flying in combat conditions. Finally, on Thursday, 10/30/03, at approximately 10 a.m., more than four days after the fire began, the helicopters were on their way, laden with water buckets.
Perhaps the most egregious examples of bureaucracy standing in the way of fighting the fire – or possibly even controlling it at the outset – are reports in the media about the initial emergency calls and the response to them. As early as 5:45 p.m. on Saturday (10/25/03), a sheriff’s helicopter pilot radioed in an urgent request for air support, which was denied by the U.S. Forest Service because it was nearing sunset. Shortly thereafter, a sheriff’s helicopter on its way to the fire with a water bucket was turned around for the same reason.
Other reports from eyewitnesses in the days since have continued to indicate that the fire at its outset may have been controllable with an appropriate air response. This is heightened by the fact that the initial and immediate ground response – dozens of engines and several hundred firefighters – could not reach the fire due to terrain.
It is essential that immediate action be taken to ensure none of this happens again. We call for a commission to be immediately seated with full subpoena powers for the express purpose of conducting an investigation into the fire and, ultimately, for forwarding a series of recommendations and appropriate legislation that would both streamline the processes and strip away the bureaucracies during a fire response situation. As representatives of the Cedar Fire area, we would also ask to be included in this commission.
Please let any of us know if you have any questions or discussion. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Dennis Hollingsworth
State Senator
36th District
Jay La Suer
Assemblyman
77th District
George Plescia
Assemblyman
75th District
Ray Haynes
Assemblyman
66th District
_____
Comments 6
I can’t believe that it has been 10 years already. My family’s Cedar Fire devastation began on October 26, 2003 & due to our location & the chaos of the situation we never saw first responders or fire fighters in our area, we just rushed to get out safely as the fire began to surround us. I would have never imagined that after losing everything that day that our most difficult times were yet to come. Within those 10 years we have sadly buried both of our parents & Thankfully Welcomed 2 beautiful babies into the world – Talk about bittersweet…
Each year on October 26th I re-live that fateful day & sometimes just can’t control the tears. You would think it would get easier each year, but it doesn’t. I will never be able to erase the memory of the devastation & terror I witnessed that day as I maneuvered through traffic, back roads & fast moving flames to get back to the house in the hope of getting things out, only to arrive too late & watched as my childhood home was enveloped by a wall of flames as tall as a skyscraper. It moved as if it had legs. And then to watch the pain in the faces of my parents as I had to tell them that they had lost everything. I still feel the knot in the pit of my stomach to this day.
But I also remember how blessed we were that we lost no lives. So many others in our Community suffered such devastating losses & I can’t begin to imagine their pain. I continue to pray for their healing.
Those of us who lived within the Fire Storm share an unspoken bond that will link us forever. The smells, the sounds & the sights of those days of devastation remain inside of us. We’ve come such a long way & have been blessed by the love & support of so many friends & strangers. May all who suffered continue to heal.
Vickie Bradeen for
The Bradeen Family of Chocolate Summit Drive
EXCELLENT article! Not one California government employee was dinged for this massive, unforgivable SNAFU.
But it doesn’t end with the 2003 Cedar fire. In 2007 the San Diego Witch fire roared through the county. The state AGAIN screwed up — indeed, BLOCKED — the use of military firefighting helos (there are THREE military helo bases in the county!). Once again bureaucratic unpreparedness and insane micromanagement kept the helos largely on the tarmac during the crucial period while hundreds of homes needlessly burned to the ground.
And once again not a single state employee suffered the slightest penalty for this near-criminal ineptitude.
And BTW, this time we had a (RINO) Republican serving his second term as Governor. Such flaming incompetence can leap across party lines.
Richard,
Forgive me if my memory fails me, but didn’t you once opine that all we needed were volunteer fire fighters?
HQ — yes, I forgive you. But be advised — your memory is not only faulty, you should have first run a level 3 diagnostic on your logic circuits. Such an assertion is patently absurd on its face.
But a RESERVE firefighting force DOES make sense. We have reserve volunteer police officers as a law enforcement SUPPLEMENTAL force on both the city and county level. We should have a voluntary SUPPLEMENTAL firefighting force.
NO ONE I’m aware of is advocating JUST volunteer firefighters for URBAN settings. NO ONE!
We DO need fire fighting volunteers to be called up for the rare brush fire that overwhelms our regular firefighting force. Indeed, we train prisoners to do exactly that during brush fires. Why not train up civilian volunteers to provide such limited assistance as well?
The answer is simple — while firefighter labor union bosses strongly support more “boots on the ground,” they energetically limit such assistance to full-time dues-paying labor union firefighters. At the unions’ “suggestion,” Sacramento has thus passed legislation that any volunteer firefighters for such limited emergencies have to trained and qualified exactly like FULL-time firefighters — a totally unnecessary requirement that essentially blocks any CA city from having a reserve firefighting option.
Richard,
Thanks for the explanation. I knew you were smarter than that.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. My wife and I saw the initial plume of the Cedar fire from our driveway in eastern Alpine, and then experienced the disaster that followed. Recently, Alpine experienced the West Fire, and it is coming out that many of the same issues encountered 10 years ago are still present. The initial response, at the top of an off ramp from Interstate 8, was slow and ineffective. The parcels which initially provided the fuel had not burned in recorded history (since recording began in the 1970’s, as admitted by the Alpine Fire Chief). These parcel owners had NOT ever been visited by the Alpine Fire Marshal (once again as admitted by the Alpine Fire Chief) and had NO clearing in the areas necessary. Once again, we had the scenario of the Sheriff’s helicopter pilots correctly assessing the situation and calling early for fixed-wing firefighting assets. Depending upon the source, it was between one and two hours before they arrived on scene. Just last Saturday I met with some who had lost their homes while discussing the General Plan Update. Many of them NEVER saw a ground firefighting rig in their neighborhoods.
Add to this the fact that while the County forced local fire agencies to dissolve, including San Diego Rural Fire, it now is considering the LAFCO application of Alpine Fire to annex more parcels into its district, a step backwards in the viewpoint of those currently served by County Fire Authority 135.
In short, while on the surface it appears that things are different (and don’t get me wrong, there have been great strides in many areas), we still find that “lessons learned” seem to have not been “learned” by everyone in our local government. As someone who lives in the greatest wildfire threat area of the County (next to Cleveland National Forest and in an area subject to the greatest Santa Ana wind velocity), I know the necessity of truly going back to the lessons learned and ensuring we are ready…the West Fire just proved we are not (and the only thing that really saved us was that we were NOT in a Santa Ana at the time….winds were only about 20-25 MPH. A true Santa Ana of 40-65+ MPH and the Cedar scenario would most likely have been repeated.)