Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), a former aviation firefighter, explained in an interview Friday that there is “no excuse” for California not to prepare for the wildfires that hit Los Angeles County. alex marlowe show With Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlowe.
Sheehy detailed the scope of the Los Angeles wildfires, the government's role in the disaster, and the environmental policies that make fighting the fires more difficult.
Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL and founder of aerial firefighting. company Bridger Aerospace said “the entire wildland fire community” has been warning for years that “we are entering an era of total unpreparedness” in the fight against wildfires.
Sheehy noted that over the past 18 months, there has been an increase in destructive wildfires in states as far away as Hawaii, New Jersey and Texas. Therefore, he argued, there is “no excuse” that California was unprepared for a similar situation.
“I'm not the only one saying that,” he said. “The entire wildland fire community has been really shouting from the rooftops for years that we're entering a period where we're totally unprepared for this type of disaster. Look at the last 18 months. Lahaina, Maui — Remember when it was erased from the map?Hundred people [were] Killed. Fires broke out in New Jersey in December and November. Last February or March, there was a fire at Smokehouse Creek in Texas. [the] The largest fire in Texas history and the second largest fire in U.S. history. And of course, now we're literally…watching Los Angeles burn before our eyes. ”
Mr Sheehy added that wildfires are “a threat that we can prepare for and fight.”
“What we're seeing, especially in Los Angeles, is the confluence and culmination of decades of bad policies that have put common sense on the back burner and prioritized really stupid priorities instead,” he said.
Tim Sheehy, founder and CEO of aviation firefighting company Bridger Aerospace, stands in front of a Super Scooper plane in Bozeman, Montana, on January 18, 2024. (Louise Johns/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Tim Sheehy's Super Scooper airplane is maintained in a hangar at Bridger Aerospace in Bozeman, Montana, on January 18, 2024. (Louise Johns/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He noted that the wildfires in California are not “a moment like Pearl Harbor, where the first wildfire occurred and no one saw it happen.”
“This is what happens all the time. California paradise is wiped off the map. Lahaina, Maui is wiped off the map. Like I said with all the other fires on the list,” Sheehy said. explained. “This threat is not a one-time typhoon that suddenly comes out of nowhere. This is something that has been happening every year for decades. And there is no excuse not to prepare. I think we were better prepared 40 years ago for what we call total control, when you basically have a lot of helicopters, a lot of planes, a lot of firefighters ready to go. , had a much more supportive environment.”
“Fire suppression preparedness has declined significantly,” Sheehy said, blaming the decline in wildfire suppression preparedness on environmentalists who “have taken over.” Firefighting is bad.''
He particularly noted resistance by environmentalists to the use of water additives in firefighting.
“Every country in the world fighting wildfires puts foam or gel additives in their water, so when you spray it on a fire, just like a fire extinguisher, the water foams up and becomes 3 to 6 times more effective at extinguishing fires. '' said Sheehy. He explained. “Every country in the world does that, except the United States. And why? Because environmentalists say, 'No, that foam could harm the endangered goldfish in that pond. I can't use it because it's there.”
“Two things could be true,” Sheehy added. “We may want to protect the environment and take care of endangered species. We may also want to protect our communities and protect them from being burned alive or having their homes burnt down. Sometimes we want to protect people. We can do both. Right now, we've chosen to prioritize protecting spotted owls, trees, salamanders, and goldfish.”
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