Roseville, CA…I was deeply saddened to learn that the Ferguson Fire has taken the life of yet another firefighter, Capt. Brian Hughes of Squaw Valley, on Sunday and that bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith of Pollock Pines died Thursday while fighting the Carr fire.

Their deaths remind us how much we owe every one of the thousands of dedicated men and women who stand between these fires and our homes and families. They know the dangers better than any, yet day after day and year after year take the front lines to stop these monster fires.

To the families of Capt. Hughes and Mr. Smith, and to the others across the West who have lost their loved ones fighting these recent fires, go the gratitude and admiration of every one of us in the communities they died to protect.