Wilson Tours Burned Area, Lauds Effort

Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday toured parts of Ventura County devastated by raging brush fires and offered a $50,000 reward for information that helps convict the arsonist who set off the Thousand Oaks firestorm.

Wilson arrived by helicopter at the county Fire Department’s command center in Newbury Park for a briefing before flying out to view charred wreckage amid the more than 64,000 acres of wilderness and backcountry neighborhoods burned so far in four separate fires this week.

On the ground, he stopped to shake hands with weary firefighters resting or eating at the makeshift headquarters in Borchard Community Park. He praised their efforts in the face of equipment and staffing shortages.

“What they have been called upon to do is what a surgeon is called upon to do in a battlefield, and that is to practice triage,” Wilson said.

Wilson wasn’t the only politician sizing up the fires in Ventura County, which the Republican governor Wednesday declared to be in a state of emergency, along with Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.

As crews worked to stop the 37,500-acre Green Meadow fire from spreading farther into Los Angeles County, those observing the emergency response included Reps. Anthony Beilenson and Elton Gallegly, and County Supervisors Maria VanderKolk, Vicky Howard and Maggie Kildee.

In a press conference at Channel Islands Air National Guard Base, Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) sharply criticized what he called a “bureaucratic nightmare” that kept two available firefighting C-130 air tankers on the ground for one critical day this week.

“If I have any say, Congress is going to address this issue,” Gallegly said. “I will make every effort to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

U. S. Forest Service officials said arcane federal regulations, combined with logistical mishaps, prevented them from getting the planes into the air to drop flame retardant Wednesday, despite receiving authorization from Wilson. The tankers began flying Thursday.

“We need to figure out how we can cut through that (red tape) in the event of emergency,” Kildee told Wilson during his visit to the command center.

Wilson agreed that bureaucracy must be trimmed to expedite emergency response, but did not address specifics of the tanker issue. He focused instead on an idea to prevent brush fires by increasing patrols along roads in remote brushy areas attractive to arsonists.

Calling fire setters “sickos” and “the lowest forms of life,” Wilson saved his harshest words for when Ventura County Fire Chief George Lund reported that witnesses said a motorcyclist deliberately lit the blaze at Los Robles Golf Course.

“I wish I could get my hands on the bastard,” Wilson said. “I’d like to strangle him.”

After completing his late-morning air tour of the area, Wilson said it appeared as though the weather was cooperating and helping firefighters.

“It looks to me that they’ve got the situation well in hand,” Wilson said. “Pray for low winds.”