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Today, Rider and Carson discuss the difference between local and federal responses to the fires in San Diego. Yesterday, they pointed fingers at the city's lack of preparedness, and later this week they'll discuss whether public policy is encouraging risky behavior, when and if the federal government should have a role in disaster management and more.
Professor Carson,
While the 2007 state-local fire coordination certainly improved from the 2003 Cedar Fire that ravaged San Diego, that's not saying much, given the abysmal 2003 performance. For me, the real issue is where the coordination and planning did NOT improve — the timely use of Navy, Marine and National Guard air assets.
Here's the story:
In the 2003 San Diego area fires, frustrated Navy firefighting helicopter crews were grounded on the tarmac while officials from the California Department of Forestry (now renamed CAL FIRE) demanded helicopter maintenance records to verify the helos met state specs. Then when they finally were allowed to fly, they were required do practice drops on nonburning targets for a couple of days under bureaucratic supervision to satisfy state officials that they actually could do the job. When they finally were put into action, it was pretty much a "mopping up" operation.
The outrage was widespread. No one was madder than the military pilots and crews. Legislation was passed, new regulations put in place, and the bureaucratic kinks supposedly were ironed out.
Not exactly.
Turns out that safety-obsessed bureaucrats at CAL FIRE can always come up with ADDITIONAL regulations to delay timely air asset responses to fires. And delay they did. For more info on this multifaceted scandal, read this AP story.
It wasn't just the helos. Military C-130s, which can pack quite a firefighting wallop, have been scheduled since before the 2003 fires to be outfitted with water/retardant tanks. But none ever have met the exacting, picky government standards, so we are STILL waiting for these wonderful planes to become effective.
Not angry enough yet? A recent Orange County Register editorial recounts the tale of the big DC-10 firefighting jets that carry huge loads, but are not allowed to fight fires (with one solitary plane being the exception). Also, highly effective Russian bombers are available that have been retrofitted to fight fires, but they're not approved for use in the U.S.
It's popular to blame just the bureaucrats. But the truth is that the real responsibility rests with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and especially our San Diego County Board of Supervisors. They were ill-prepared to move quickly to get the air assets active. They were too busy holding news conferences and patting themselves on the back.
Indeed, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, who represents parts of Orange County, said 24 hours after the fires started that "San Diego was eligible for air support and [local officials] didn't even know it."
And yet — trust me on this — not one bureaucrat or politician will lose their job or their pension as a result of this big-time snafu, as we called such screw-ups in the service.
Oddly enough, the bulk of the problem was not the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or the feds. FEMA is largely useless as first-line defenders against fires. Always will be. FEMA is mainly good at giving away money after the fires have done their damage.
Here's the bottom line: San Diego County SHOULD have the world's best air asset response to a big fire. We have not one, not two, but THREE military bases with dozens of firefighting helos and trained crews. Yet we can't get them in the air during the crucial first 48 hours of a fire, when they could be the most effective. Only severe government incompetence can negate such wonderful firefighting capability.
Richard Rider is the chairman of San Diego Tax Fighters, a grass-roots taxpayer organization. A businessman and retired Navy Reserve commander, Rider has written dozens of ballot arguments against raising taxes and issuing municipal bonds.
Pols left aircraft on the runway
Professor Carson,
While the 2007 state-local fire coordination certainly improved from the 2003 Cedar Fire that ravaged San Diego, that's not saying much, given the abysmal 2003 performance. For me, the real issue is where the coordination and planning did NOT improve — the timely use of Navy, Marine and National Guard air assets.
Here's the story:
In the 2003 San Diego area fires, frustrated Navy firefighting helicopter crews were grounded on the tarmac while officials from the California Department of Forestry (now renamed CAL FIRE) demanded helicopter maintenance records to verify the helos met state specs. Then when they finally were allowed to fly, they were required do practice drops on nonburning targets for a couple of days under bureaucratic supervision to satisfy state officials that they actually could do the job. When they finally were put into action, it was pretty much a "mopping up" operation.
The outrage was widespread. No one was madder than the military pilots and crews. Legislation was passed, new regulations put in place, and the bureaucratic kinks supposedly were ironed out.
Not exactly.
Turns out that safety-obsessed bureaucrats at CAL FIRE can always come up with ADDITIONAL regulations to delay timely air asset responses to fires. And delay they did. For more info on this multifaceted scandal, read this AP story.
It wasn't just the helos. Military C-130s, which can pack quite a firefighting wallop, have been scheduled since before the 2003 fires to be outfitted with water/retardant tanks. But none ever have met the exacting, picky government standards, so we are STILL waiting for these wonderful planes to become effective.
Not angry enough yet? A recent Orange County Register editorial recounts the tale of the big DC-10 firefighting jets that carry huge loads, but are not allowed to fight fires (with one solitary plane being the exception). Also, highly effective Russian bombers are available that have been retrofitted to fight fires, but they're not approved for use in the U.S.
It's popular to blame just the bureaucrats. But the truth is that the real responsibility rests with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and especially our San Diego County Board of Supervisors. They were ill-prepared to move quickly to get the air assets active. They were too busy holding news conferences and patting themselves on the back.
Indeed, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, who represents parts of Orange County, said 24 hours after the fires started that "San Diego was eligible for air support and [local officials] didn't even know it."
And yet — trust me on this — not one bureaucrat or politician will lose their job or their pension as a result of this big-time snafu, as we called such screw-ups in the service.
Oddly enough, the bulk of the problem was not the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or the feds. FEMA is largely useless as first-line defenders against fires. Always will be. FEMA is mainly good at giving away money after the fires have done their damage.
Here's the bottom line: San Diego County SHOULD have the world's best air asset response to a big fire. We have not one, not two, but THREE military bases with dozens of firefighting helos and trained crews. Yet we can't get them in the air during the crucial first 48 hours of a fire, when they could be the most effective. Only severe government incompetence can negate such wonderful firefighting capability.
Richard Rider is the chairman of San Diego Tax Fighters, a grass-roots taxpayer organization. A businessman and retired Navy Reserve commander, Rider has written dozens of ballot arguments against raising taxes and issuing municipal bonds.
Where was the Forest Service?
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