Press Gaggle by Dana Perino

Business Wire, Oct 25, 2007

Aboard Air Force One, En Route Miramar, California

SAN DIEGO -- 10:14 A.M. EDT

MS. PERINO: The President is on his way to Southern California. I have brought Fran Townsend, who is the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. She will give you a quick update as to where we are, answer some of your questions, and then I'll take any of the other questions at the end.

MS. TOWNSEND: I'm going to go through a quick statement, and then I'll take questions. Over the past few days we've seen a disaster response operating exactly the way it should be, with federal, state and local partners working hand-in-hand as partners, to make sure that these fires are put out and that we provide the immediate assistance to those in need.

As in all disasters, disasters are, in essence, a local event. State and local officials have done a great job, and have been coordinating the response effort. The role of the federal government is to support state and local response, which is exactly what we've been doing since these fires started.

When these fires first flared up, the federal government acted quickly, issuing a total of eight fire management assistance grants between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. These grants provided immediate federal firefighting support to California. FEMA stayed in constant contact with California officials, asking what they could do to help. This really is a good example of what we consider a strengthened, rebuilt, new FEMA, leaning forward, proactive, and ready to respond to what state and local officials need.

Late Monday night, Governor Schwarzenegger sent a request through FEMA to the President for an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act, seeking additional federal assistance. Within an hour, this request was in the West Wing and approved by the President. The emergency declaration gave the President the authority to direct all federal agencies, not just FEMA, to provide additional support to meet California's emergency response needs, and give Californians the peace of mind to know that we'd pay for most of those emergency response costs.

On Tuesday evening the Governor asked FEMA to provide assistance to individuals affected by the fires, and FEMA launched its Individual Assistance program before the sun came up on Wednesday. This includes housing assistance, and helping to pay for personal property losses. People needing help can register by calling FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA, or by going to FEMA's website, or by visiting one of the mobile disaster recovery centers that FEMA has deployed in California. People can also get small, low-cost loans from the Small Business Administration.

On Wednesday morning, the President issued a major disaster declaration, which provided even more assistance to California, including help in removing debris and providing individuals long-term assistance, such as counseling, food coupons, and unemployment assistance.

This is really -- this is not the end of federal assistance, it's just the beginning. This morning USDA, who already -- as you know, has got about 2,500 firefighters deployed to help fight the fire, approved California's request to initiate the Disaster Food Stamp Program in San Diego, which will operate from October 21st through November 19th.

I've been asked a bunch of questions about a comparison to the 2003 fire. So let me walk you through just a couple of data points. The 2003 fire lasted over 10 days, with a loss of life of 22 people, 730,000 acres burned, and 5,000 structures destroyed. So far -- now understand you're comparing to a fire that's so far only been going a little over four days -- we've had -- there's one confirmed fatality, we've had reports of as many as three fatalities, 38 injured. Approximately 427,000 acres burned, 70 percent of which is in San Diego County. As of this morning, 2,205 structures are lost.

In terms of evacuation, according to California state officials, the evacuation involved 321,000 people, which makes it the largest evacuation in state history. FBI and ATF are currently assisting Orange County officials in the arson investigation. State and local officials advise that one-stop centers have been set up that allow burned-out residents to meet with city, county, state and federal program assistance providers, along with insurance companies and charities. As you've heard, wind and humidity and temperature conditions have moved in our favor, and so it suggests to us that we'll -- that firefighters will have an opportunity to turn the corner and get it under control.

There are enormous DOD assets that are deployed, and if folks are interested, I can get you some more of the specific details on that.

Q Please.

MS. TOWNSEND: You want that. Okay. DOD -- approximately 214 active duty personnel deployed; 72 civilian personnel; 2,492 National Guard personnel engaged in ground and airborne firefighting, security and relief operations, which leaves in the state of California, another 17,295 National Guard members available if they should be needed.