Fire fighters union rips into Trump over threat to withhold FEMA funding from California

BY JUSTIN WISE - 01/09/19 03:30 PM EST

The head of the International Association of Fire Fighters on Wednesday blasted President Trump over his threat to stop sending federal funding to California to fight forest fires.

“This is yet another unimaginable attack on the dedicated professionals who put everything on the line, including their own homes, to protect their neighborhoods,” General President Harold Schaitberger, who leads the union that represents full-time firefighters and emergency medical services personnel in the U.S. and Canada, said in a statement.

“While our president is tweeting on the sidelines in D.C., our fellow Americans 3,000 miles to the west are mourning loved ones, entire communities have been wiped off the map and thousands of people are still trying to figure out where they are going to call home.”

His comments came hours after Trump argued on Twitter that California’s damaging forest fires would “never happen” if its forests were managed properly. He also said that he’s ordered “FEMA to send no more money” to the state.

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