California Congressman Slams Newsom Appointee for Dismantling Volunteer Fire Unit

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has sharply criticized a high-ranking appointee of California Gov. Gavin Newsom for dismantling the state’s emergency-response volunteer firefighting units.

Shortly after Newsom appointed Matthew Beevers as adjutant general of the California Military Department in May 2023, Beevers decommissioned the Emergency Response Command, a highly trained joint command consisting of two volunteer units, according to Maj. Gen. Jay Coggan, retired commanding general of the California State Guard.

“Your article was very important, because the fact is that dismantling volunteer fire departments is not only an additional cost, but it eliminates a force multiplier,” Issa said, referring to a Jan. 16 article on The Daily Signal.

Prior to Beevers’ decision, Emergency Response Command included Team Blaze, a firefighting detachment with two years of training to operate five fire engines specially designed to fight wildfires in terrain like that of Los Angeles and act as firefighting handcrews.

More than 300 wildfires in Los Angeles and other areas of Southern California have killed at least 28 people, destroyed an estimated 16,000 structures, and burned more than 57,000 acres, according to CAL FIRE.

“There’s no question at all, you cannot afford to have rank-and-file fire departments in these rural areas at any cost, so as a result, there were less people responding,” Issa said. “These volunteer teams, they’re protecting their own homes, they have long histories, and they’re very affordable. But this didn’t fit a union agenda of the administration.”

A senior enlisted leader told The Daily Signal that the California Professional Firefighters Union complained to Cal Fire that it didn’t want “nonprofessional firefighters” on their fires. According to the enlisted leader, Cal Fire put pressure on Beevers, who is said to have caved because Taskforce Rattlesnake, a large program run by the California Military Department, is funded by Cal Fire.  

California Professional Firefighters Union and Cal Fire did not respond to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment.  

“In reality, these people don’t want their jobs,” Coggan, the retired commanding general of the California State Guard, told The Daily Signal, referring to the volunteer firefighters. “They’re just filling it during the gap.” 

The website and social media accounts for the firefighting unit, Team Blaze, vanished in the days after the report on the controversial decision by Beevers.

“Suppressing free speech is something the [Biden] administration did regularly,” Issa said. “It’s something that still happens in California.”

“It’s a big part of what President [Donald] Trump and this Republican majority want to do, make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the California Republican continued. “We believe free speech, even when we disagree with it, is critical. The other side doesn’t.”

Issa said there is “no question” that California’s far-left leadership is at fault for the consequences of the wildfires.

“Multiple Democrat leaders and Democrat administrations, not just administrations, but the Legislature, has progressively made more fuel to be on the fire and less ability to on the ground and less ability to fight it,” he said.

Issa added that California voters are frustrated with leaders like Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

“They want to have government do what it’s supposed to do,” he said, “and for years, that hasn’t been what the leadership has done.”

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