Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
VP Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, Gov. Newsom Tour Creek Fire
David Website Replacement
By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 4 years ago on
September 15, 2020

Share

Update: 3:45 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived at Clovis North High School at about 1:40 p.m. Tuesday.

While there, they bumped elbows with American Red Cross of Central California volunteers who are helping Creek Fire evacuees.

A campus gym has been converted into a Red Cross evacuation point for the estimated 10,000 residents who continue to be displaced by the wildfire in Fresno and Madera counties.

“Thank you all so much,” Harris said upon entering the gym. She also took a socially distanced photo with volunteers in Red Cross t-shirts.

Before heading back to the airport, Newsom and Harris capped off their four-hour tour at Fresno Fire Station 11, at Fresno Street near Barstow.

Harris and Newsom delivered sack lunches to firefighters in the station bay and chatted for several minutes.

Outside the station, about two dozen supporters of President Donald Trump yelled and waved campaign flags.

Update: 1 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15

Harris and Newsom were briefed on the Creek Fire on Tuesday morning at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Auberry.

Providing the briefings: Cal Fire Southern Region Chief Dan Johnson, Sierra National Forest Supervisor Dean Gould, and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig.

After the briefing, Harris and Newsom crossed Auberry Road and examined a burned-out residence.

“Sadly, these wildfires and the devastation they cause are utterly predictable,” Harris said. “Especially in residential areas, and you’ll see where the fire has just swept through. Everything is gone except the chimney. … Those chimneys remind me of tombstones.”

Harris added that “this is not a partisan issue. … We have to do better as a country.”

And, she cited climate change as fueling the wildfires devastating communities throughout the western United States.

“We have to understand that California, like so many other parts of our country, has experienced extreme weather conditions,” Harris said. “It is incumbent on us, in terms of the leadership of our nation, to take seriously these new changes in our climate, and to do what we can to mitigate against the damage.”

Harris praised firefighters who are battling flames while their own homes are burning: “They are working around the clock without rest. I just heard about how they have been working 90-hour shifts, some of them, to save families, to save property.”

From there, the motorcade began a trip to Clovis North High School, where Harris and Newsom are expected to talk with evacuees and representatives of the American Red Cross of Central California.

A melted slide stands in the playground at the Pine Ridge Elementary School in Auberry after the Creek Fire burned through the area on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. The school survived the blaze. (AP/Noah Berger)

Original story 

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris landed in Fresno at 10:46 a.m. Tuesday and will tour Creek Fire sites later today with Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Her motorcade later was spotted at the bottom of the Highway 168 “four-lane.” She reportedly was headed to Pine Ridge Elementary School below the community of Shaver Lake.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Dustin Gardiner is the pool reporter for the Harris campaign today.

“Harris, who wore a green jacket, white shirt and jeans, quickly boarded her motorcade. She did not answer questions on the tarmac,” Gardiner reported.

Sen. Harris left the airport after about five minutes. Later, she and Newsom are expected to meet with emergency personnel for an assessment of wildfires. They will also tour an evacuation center this afternoon.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks after Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden introduced her as his running mate during a campaign event at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

DON'T MISS

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

DON'T MISS

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

DON'T MISS

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

DON'T MISS

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

DON'T MISS

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

DON'T MISS

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

DON'T MISS

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

DON'T MISS

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

DON'T MISS

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Who Led US Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies, to Step Down

DON'T MISS

Is Fresno Mobile Home Park Controversy Over? Tenants Applaud Federal Judge’s Ruling

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Thousands of University of California Workers Go on 2-Day Strike Over Wages, Staff Shortages

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Pledged to Release His Tax Returns Every Year. The Last One Was for 2020.

UP NEXT

California Governor Will Not Make Clemency Decision for Menendez Brothers Until New DA Reviews Case

UP NEXT

Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses?

UP NEXT

California Voters Reject Measure That Would Have Raised Minimum Wage to Nation-High $18 Per Hour

UP NEXT

Bomb Cyclone Kills 1 and Knocks Out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

UP NEXT

With Democracy Supposedly at Stake, California Voters Stayed Away in Droves

David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

1 hour ago

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

1 hour ago

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

1 hour ago

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

1 hour ago

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

2 hours ago

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Who Led US Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies, to Step Down

2 hours ago

Is Fresno Mobile Home Park Controversy Over? Tenants Applaud Federal Judge’s Ruling

2 hours ago

Wiggins, Curry Power Warriors to Dominant Win Over Hawks

3 hours ago

Sale and Skubal Claim Cy Young Awards After Historic Pitching Triple Crown Seasons

3 hours ago

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

3 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

It sometimes seems that we have lost the ability to truly communicate with one another. It is not so much what we say to one another, but ho...

30 minutes ago

30 minutes ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

1 hour ago

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

1 hour ago

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

1 hour ago

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

1 hour ago

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

1 hour ago

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

1 hour ago

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

2 hours ago

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend