The devastation from the Camp Fire in Northern California has left many without a home and nowhere to go as the death toll rises to 77 with still nearly 1,000 people missing.
President Trump visited the wildfire victims Saturday, touring a neighborhood in Paradise that was entirely leveled.
After seeing the damage in person Trump commented, “As big as they look on the tube you don’t see what’s going on until you come here.....Nobody would have ever thought this could have happened.”
Trump was asked if seeing the destruction changed his perspective on climate change but he persisted it had not.
“No, I have a strong opinion. I want a great climate and we’re going to have that,” Trump said. "And we’re going to have forests that are very safe. Because we can’t go through this every year.”
During a meeting with fire and local officials at an incident command center in Chico, the president referred to the fire as a "monster" and applauded firefighters who are “fighting like hell” to put out the remaining parts of the fires still burning.
The president reiterated his point about poor forest management and used Finland as an example of how to better maintain forests.
“We do have to do management maintenance and we’ll be working also with environmental groups, I think everyone’s seen the light,” Trump said. “The floors of the forest are very important. You look at other countries where they do it differently and it's a whole different story. I was with the president of Finland, and he said we have a much different — we're a forest nation. He called it a forest nation. And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem.”
The Camp Fire is considered the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history.
The president also visited the parts of Malibu devastated by the Woolsey Fire.
Read more at ABC News.
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