President Trump said Saturday that "raking and cleaning" can help avoid forest fires.
President Trump has suggested that "raking and cleaning" the forest floors could help prevent wildfires in the future.
He was touring areas affected by the deadly fires in California Saturday when a reporter asked about keeping such disasters from happening again.
"We've got to take care of the floors, you know, the floors of the forests, very important. If you look at other countries where they do it differently and it's a whole different story," Trump said.
"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," Trump continued. "And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem. And when it is, it's a very small problem. So, I know everybody's looking at that to that end and it's gonna work out. It's going to work out well."
However, one Finnish researcher countered Trump by tweeting: "I perhaps wouldn't compare Finland and California climate-wise...And besides, 80% of the country is classified as forest land. We don't exactly manicure all of it."
According to CBS News, the devastating Camp Fire has claimed the lives of 76 people as of Saturday, with more than 1,200 others unaccounted for.
The president had previously blamed the fire on mismanagement.
"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump tweeted on November 10. "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!"
