[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16334-16335]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CALIFORNIA FIRES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, the worst fire in the 
history of California has devastated nearly 300,000 acres, destroyed 
some 7,000 homes, caused billions of dollars in damage, burned to the 
ground many businesses, and, most sadly, taken the lives of 42 people; 
and that number may, in fact, rise.
  This fire was like no other, propelled by winds that reached speeds 
of over 70 miles an hour. It moved so fast, burning at times 200 feet 
per second--that is three football fields every 30 seconds--that people 
had little time to escape their burning homes.
  People fled with only their night clothes--no time to grab even their 
medication, important papers, or personal belongings. Thousands of 
families were displaced and will have to find housing, rebuild their 
homes and businesses, and rebuild their lives.
  Over 100,000 people were evacuated during the late hours of the first 
night of this monster firestorm. Many of you saw the news coverage play 
out on your television. The most covered area in the news is an area in 
Santa Rosa called Coffey Park. This is it. There alone, some 1,300 
homes were burned to the ground. This area is on the far western side 
of the fire-devastated area, a county away from where it started.
  The winds were so high that they pushed the blaze across eight lanes 
of freeway and over two frontage roads to destroy the homes and the 
lives of these 1,300 families. The winds were so high that cars were 
not only burned beyond recognition, but they were flipped over. There 
is a metal garage door that remains stuck about 35 feet off the ground 
in the remains of a burned-out pine tree.
  Leader McCarthy was with me in Coffey Park and saw firsthand the 
devastation. I want to thank the leader for his commitment to work with 
us to help our communities and the many people so devastated by this 
unprecedented disaster. I thank also the 11,000 firefighters, the many 
law enforcement, and National Guard that put their life on the line to 
stop the raging inferno and protect the lives of the people of my 
district and the other fire-threatened areas of California. Some of 
those first responders lost their own homes, but worked 24/7 to help 
others.
  The response was awesome and truly appreciated. Mutual aid came from 
every county in California, States across our great country, Federal 
agencies, and from other countries. The actions of civilian heroes and 
heroines saved an untold number of lives and continue to make life 
tolerable to those affected by this fire disaster.
  The fallout from the disaster will be felt for years, if not decades. 
You just can't rebuild 7,000 homes and neighborhoods overnight.
  The heartbeat of our community--doctors, nurses, workers, teachers, 
CEOs, and small business owners--were burned out and must start over. 
My colleagues and I appreciate all of their words of comfort and offers 
to help. The people hurt by this monster fire will need all of our 
help. As we move forward, we have to work together to address this 
devastation that has befallen the people of my district and other parts 
of northern California.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman).
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have spent a lot of time with my friend, 
Congressman Mike Thompson, over the past week because our districts 
neighbor each other. While the worst of this fire was in Congressman 
Thompson's district, portions of that terrible Santa Rosa fire spilled 
over to affect my constituents, and I had a separate fire in Mendocino 
County, the Redwood Complex, that itself would have ranked among the 
top 20 wildfires in California history. The fact that all of these 
fires happened together is truly an unprecedented and a dreadful 
crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Thompson. He has been everywhere in the 
region. I thank our local government partners, and I thank our 
colleagues, Minority Leader Pelosi, and Majority Leader McCarthy. The 
support has been bipartisan and it has been nationwide. FEMA has been 
on the ground along with first responders doing heroic work to get the 
recovery and the rebuilding process started. We are grateful for all of 
that, but we are only at the beginning.
  If you want to see your government doing good work, go to the local 
assistance center in Santa Rosa or in Ukiah and watch how the 
wraparound services are there. Every need that these

[[Page 16335]]

fire victims, these devastated families, can imagine is there to be 
met. But we are at the beginning, and we are going to need that support 
over a long-sustained period.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for standing with us at this early 
stage of dealing with this crisis. We are going to need them over the 
long haul. We will be talking more about this going forward.

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