Governor Schwarzenegger Takes Action to Bolster State's Firefighting Resources

GOVERNOR: Good morning, everybody. First of all, let me just say thank you very much to General Wade for being here and then Henry Renteria, Director of the Office of Emergency Services and State Fire Marshall Kate Dargan. Thank you very much, all of you and the firefighters and chiefs that are standing behind us.

Now, we all know that our fantastic summer weather is one of the big reasons why California is such a desirable place to live and to work and to have vacations here. But these dry months also make us especially vulnerable to wildfires and the devastation that they cause. Everyone still remembers the firestorm from last year; 10 people lost their lives, 518,000 acres of land burned and 3,000 structures and homes were destroyed.

This year the fire season has already begun. In fact, over the last few days firefighters have been fighting and battling a blaze near Red Bluff. We need every firefighting resource and tool on ready alert so that we can, if a fire breaks out anywhere, we can be ready for action.

So today I'm signing an executive order directing CAL FIRE to immediately mobilize additional personnel and equipment, which means more fire crews, more fire engines and also more helicopters and airplanes, especially also the supertanker, which drops 12,000 gallons of water in each flight.

Now, we need the public to do its part as well, so I dedicate this week as Wildfire Awareness Week, because 90 percent of the fires are caused by people. So this year I instruct CAL FIRE to step up education and enforcement of our fire laws. We will be more aggressive in cracking down on dangerous and illegal fireworks and we are going to start citing property owners who don't follow the 100-foot defensible space law.

Now, I myself just went through that. We had an expert from the fire department come up to our house and give us instructions of what we need to do to make our house more defensible. They gave us instructions of removing certain trees and brush and high grass and all of those kinds of things and it was really terrific, because it makes us feel much safer now.

And so what we are saying is, we want to urge Californians to be smart about this, to be vigilant and to obey the law and also get advice, like we did. I know that by working together we can make our communities safer and we can protect California's beautiful natural resources for decades to come. So I think let's all work together on this.

So thank you very much. And if there are any questions, please feel free. We have all the experts here.

QUESTION/ANSWER:

QUESTION:                                                                         Governor?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Yes, please.

QUESTION:                                                                         I'm sorry this is not a fire-related question, but if you saw today's Variety Magazine there's an open letter to you and several state leaders on Ugly Betty moving to New York, their production. The cast and crew is begging state leaders to intervene. New York has given them great tax incentives to move. Can you intervene? Can you stop them?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Well, I think it has to do with fire; that's another fire we have to put out. I've been trying for four years, since I've gotten to Sacramento, to convince our lawmakers here that it is extremely important to give tax incentives to Hollywood. Not to give tax incentives and money to rich producers and studio executives, but to keep productions here in Hollywood and in California.

Because we have seen that, especially in the early days -- meaning when I first got here -- all the productions went to Canada or to Australia or South Africa. Then, when the dollar changed and our dollar got weaker, we saw them coming back and now Canada is struggling. But what happened was, they didn't come back to California; they went to Louisiana, they went to Florida, they went to New Mexico, because they give great tax incentives. So their productions are going up, their business is booming, they're making a lot of money and they're putting everyone to work and we don't. We have tens of thousands of people in the movie business that are unemployed.

So I think it's natural, in order to put everyone to work, to give them tax incentives when they make movies in California. As a matter of fact, I remember that when they came to me on Terminator 4, they said, "Will you do a cameo?"

I said, "Only if you do the movie here."

They said, "Look, we are saving $12 million by going to New Mexico."

And they're shooting right now in New Mexico, so that's the sad story of it, you know? So we try to get as many movies to be shot here but we have not been as successful, because we are not offering the same kind of incentives as other states are offering.

QUESTION:                                                                         Governor?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Yes?

QUESTION:                                                                         I have a question on the environment. You've been a big proponent of biofuels in the past, ethanol. There have been some concerns raised that ethanol production may lead to things like hunger in other parts of the world and high prices of food. I wonder, do you think there are any problems with pursuing alternative fuels?

GOVERNOR:                                                                      Well, no, there's no problem. But I think that we -- it's one of those things that whenever you try to make a change it has a positive reaction but also a negative one and one has to really think all of this through. And I think this is so new now that everyone is trying to figure out what is going to be the new thing. Is it electric cars? Is it going to be biofuel? Is it going to be ethanol? What is it, hydrogen? There are so many options.

So I think, I still think hydrogen is the answer, because it really has no greenhouse gas emissions and we don't get into those problems of rising food prices and all those things. But I think it will sort out. It's just a struggle, I think, that we'll go through in the next few years, but I think it will sort itself out.

QUESTION:                                                                         Governor, what's the word among the Kennedy clan? Is Hillary toast?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       I have very little discussions with them about the presidential election. I have no idea. I think right now all three are in there and it's a race amongst three. And you know that we have heard that story for the last several months but we have not seen anything change. So, as far as I'm concerned, all three are still running to become president. Yes?

QUESTION:                                                                         Governor, you've been talking about leasing the state lottery. If you made a proposal like that would it have to go on the ballot in November?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       I think that anything that has to do with the budget like that would have to go on the ballot because it has an affect on Proposition 98. But I think that it ought to. You know, people ought to be asked, anyway. I think that we have to include, with those kinds of decisions, we have to include the people. So it will be something -- it's again one of those things that if Democrats and Republicans get behind it, I think the people will get behind it, as they did with infrastructure and with other things.

STAFF:                                                                                  Last question, please.

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Yes, there was a question over here.

QUESTION:                                                                         That was my question.

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Okay, good. Yes?

QUESTION:                                                                         Speaking of lotteries, the staff had a party last fall and they spent about $46,000 on themselves, money that could have gone to education. I wonder if you feel, if you're in agreement with the Controller, that the money should be paid back?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Well, I don't know if it should be paid back, but I think that we should really do everything that we can not to let that happen again, because we don't want to waste the taxpayers money on those kinds of things. But it's always the question, does something like this help to bring more revenues in? Some people think -- they say, "Look, I did a party to really bring everyone up and celebrate and let them know what a great job they did. And they now will work harder because of it and that will be better for the state of California."

So there's a question about all of this. But we made it very clear that we don't want them to do that again.

QUESTION:                                                                         Governor, can I ask a question about the executive order? Since the 100-foot rule went into effect the state has issued very few citations. So, do you want now CAL FIRE to ramp it up?

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Yes, that's the idea, to be more strict about it and to go around -- we know from the past fires and I think the experts here can tell you, that prevention is half of the battle. So I have -- like, for instance, that's why I used my example. I was not aware of, until an expert from the fire department came to my house and said, "This is terrible. This is a fire hazard all around your house. You're living in the middle of it. Get rid of this tall grass, get rid of these shrubs, get rid of those trees." He said, "You're going to be in trouble." And so I think it is important, first of all, for people to know that and second of all to get advice if they don't know, what should I take out and what should I do. Get advice, call your local fire department.

And thirdly, I think that we all have to be vigilant. And if people don't get it, then they have to go in and be fined. But maybe you want to add a little bit, something to that whole idea? Thank you.

FIRE MARSHALL DARGAN:                                          Thank you. Kate Dargan, the state fire marshal. I want to acknowledge that you have a governor who just spoke to prevention as half the battle. We have to be ready to fight fires. That's why, in the executive order today, we're bringing on the extra surge capacity. Hundreds of additional firefighters will be placed at the ready, like they were last year.

But the other half of the battle is what the homeowners do before the fire starts. And we know that even if we have hundreds and hundreds of more firefighters, things like last fall are going to happen in California. They're going to happen with predictability. And in order to mitigate those losses, save homes and save lives, we have to get ahead on the prevention and mitigation side as well and the Governor supports that.

QUESTION:                                                                         May I ask if orders were given to -- or have orders been given to issue more citations to start --

FIRE MARSHALL DARGAN:                                          The Governor has given clear direction to Chief Grijalva for CAL FIRE to not only increase our education but increase our enforcement this year as well.

GOVERNOR:                                                                       Thank you very much. Thank you.