Orange County Emergency Services Commissioner Peter Cirigliano was the main guest at a Tuesday roundtable hosted by the World Cares Center.
Cirigliano helped lead efforts to combat the Jennings Creek Fire, which killed a State Parks employee and burned more than 5,300 acres between New York and New Jersey in November. While no buildings were burned, some residents of Greenwood Lake were urged to evacuate, and the fire took two weeks to put out.
“You can’t get complacent, and you can’t underestimate the wildfires," says Cirigliano. "They call them wild for a reason.”
The average annual number and size of wildfires nationwide appears to have risen since the 1980s, according to data from the National Intragency Fire Center. The Jennings Creek Fire was one of several fires to break out across the Northeast in November, due to drought conditions, high winds, and abnormally high temperatures.
In California, the Palisades and Eaton fires have burned more than 37,000 acres, killing more than 25 people and destroying thousands of homes. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention says the fires are nearing containment.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, a commander with the New York Naval Militia’s Northern Command, went west with his unit to support containment efforts earlier this month. Speaking with WAMC, the Republican says he saw some similarities with the Jennings Creek Fire, especially in how wind spread the flames — but he was struck by the scale of the L.A. fires.
“Everybody in this country, including us on the East Coast, the federal government is going to have to work with California to help rebuild, because the impacts on the insurance rates are going to impact people on the East Coast," says Neuhaus. "The increase of homelessness is going to impact the federal dollar. So this is going to have a very wide-reaching impact on United State residents from either sea.”
President Trump has suggested overhauling or even getting rid of FEMA in his first days in office, suggesting state governments should handle their own disasters. The president has signed an executive order creating a task force to review FEMA.
Cirigliano says there are a lot of things first responders need to juggle at the scene of a fire. He says the terrain of the Jennings Creek Fire was difficult for firefighters to navigate as they brought in water and dug fire lines. When an 18-year-old Parks aide was killed by a falling tree early in the blaze, Cirigliano says response efforts stalled: he had no idea what caused the fire, so he needed to record the scene in case it turned out to be arson.
"The operation was paralyzed," he says. "The incident commander that was operating on the hill at the time had to come down. We were talking about trauma to everybody that witnessed this incident, and the whole operation was paralyzed.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Cirigliano says containing the fire took a lot of volunteers and cooperation from state and federal officials. Many local businesses chipped in with food and other donations for the command center.
Going forward, Cirigliano says he wants to connect more with volunteer organizations before an emergency arrives.
“There are organizations that I had developed a good relationship with, which makes it that much more seamless when you need them," he adds. "I know exactly what their function is, I know exactly what they can do, what capabilities they have, and how they can assist me. It’s very hard to get that information when you’re in the heat of the moment.”
Cirigliano says his biggest takeaway was the importance of communicating with the public. He says officials had to be on the same page about what their message was and how often they would update residents, to minimize confusion and panic.
He says that messaging continues with reminding residents to keep a go-bag ready for emergencies, and to keep their yards clear of dry debris.
“All of these natural disasters have common elements. And when you have a lack of communication, it leads in a huge disaster," he explains. "If you have a natural disaster and then you have a public perception disaster, that’s sometimes worse.”
