Chief of California’s wildland firefighting agency to retire

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The chief of California’s forestry and wildland firefighting agency will retire next month after shepherding the state through three historic wildfire seasons. Thom Porter’s tenure was not without controversy, as when he took the blame in June for Gov. Gavin Newsom overstating the amount of land that had been treated with prescribed burns and fuel breaks designed to slow wildfires. Newsom said 90,000 acres had been treated, when the actual number was 87% less. Porter said his Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had done a poor job educating the governor about its efforts. Newsom on Monday praised Porter for seeing the state through unprecedented wildfire challenges.