Last week, I shared the incredible video footage of a heroic woman saving a koala bear who was badly burned in an Australian brushfire. The viral video showed a local woman named Toni Doherty who ran to the koala’s rescue. She quickly took off her own shirt to protect the crying animal and then poured water over it to try and cool the burns. Sometimes, heroes don’t wear capes. They save the day dressed in a bra and sensible sandals. The injured koala was eventually taken to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for treatment. The country’s koala populations have been a major victim of the flames, with more than 350 of the marsupials feared killed in a major habitat.”
But today comes the sad news that Lewis’ injuries were more than his little body could bear and the hospital doctors were forced to help the koala pass away as peacefully as possible. The Koala Hospital of Port Macquarie shared on its Facebook page the sad news: “Today we made the decision to put Ellenborough Lewis to sleep. We placed him under general anesthesia this morning to assess his burns injuries and change the bandages. We recently posted that ‘burns injuries can get worse before they get better.’ In Ellenborough Lewis’s case, the burns did get worse and unfortunately would not have gotten better. The Koala Hospital’s number one goal is animal welfare, so it was on those grounds that this decision was made. We thank you for your ongoing support.”
Due to deforestation, and now the bushfires, the koala population has been massively impacted. TIME reports that over 1,000 koalas have perished in the raging fires over the past two months.
A new forest fire raged on in California today, destroying more than 150 homes in Malibu, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, and Westlake Village areas.
#WoolseyFire: – 70,000 acres, 0% contained – At least two dead – 250,000 People evacuated – At least 150 homes destroyed – Multiple people arrested for looting – Evacuation orders in place for Westlake Village, Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Agoura, and Malibupic.twitter.com/bl7MBYoXRu
“My whole neighborhood is gone…” Thousands of California residents won’t be able to sleep in their own beds tonight. Many not knowing if they even have a home to go back to. We take a look at how the #HillFire, #WoolseyFire, and #CampFire quickly changed, and even ended lives. pic.twitter.com/JCgvVKjLjt
Donald Trump took to Twitter to address the issue, but it wasn’t quite the ‘presidential’ tone California might have hoped for.
Trump’s take was to blame “gross mismanagement of the forests.” The Donald’s answer was to threaten “no more Fed payments” unless things were brought more inline with his thinking.
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
The head of the California Professional Firefighters was not amused.
“The president’s message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is Ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines,” stated California Professional Firefighters President Brian K. Rice.
“At a time when our every effort should be focused on vanquishing the destructive fires and helping the victims, the president has chosen instead to issue an uninformed political threat aimed squarely at the innocent victims of these cataclysmic fires,” Rice added. “At this moment, thousands of our brother and sister firefighters are putting their lives on the line to protect the lives and property of thousands. Some of them are doing so even as their own homes lay in ruins. In my view, this shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines.”
It goes without saying that California sends FAR more money to the federal government than it ever gets back in support given that the Golden State is the 5th largest economy in the world.
For the President of the United States’ first reaction to be condemnation of the state rather than empathy for the Americans who are losing their homes was unsettling to say the least.
I’m of a mind to believe that Trump’s lack of empathy comes in part from the fact that he will never win the Golden State when he runs for reelection in 2020. So, I doubt he cares much for California.
Just ask Puerto Rico.
I’m not the only one who thought the response was less than ‘presidential.’
Mr. President, with all due respect, you are wrong. The fires in So. Cal are urban interface fires and have NOTHING to do with forest management. Come to SoCal and learn the facts & help the victims. Scott Austin, Pres IAFF 809. @IAFFNewsDeskhttps://t.co/d3jY0SeosF
Try instead “my deepest condolences to those Americans who lost property and my special appreciation to the firefighters and other first responders. With FEMA and HUD and USDA and all federal agencies we will do whatever we can to get this under control and assist in recovery.” https://t.co/UeZZ1g9pm3
I don’t expect anything better from Trump, but this threat, issued as people are literally fleeing for their lives, cannot go unanswered.
For those of you in the path of the fires or who have lost loved ones or your homes, we will be there for you. Even if our President is not. https://t.co/hqKXIHqpNl
Last week, I shared the incredible video footage of a heroic woman saving a koala bear who was badly burned in an Australian brushfire. The viral video showed a local woman named Toni Doherty who ran to the koala’s rescue. She quickly took off her own shirt to protect the crying animal and then poured water over it to try and cool the burns. Sometimes, heroes don’t wear capes. They save the day dressed in a bra and sensible sandals. 
The injured koala was eventually taken to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for treatment. The country’s koala populations have been a major victim of the flames, with more than 350 of the marsupials feared killed in a major habitat.” 