As the former director of external affairs for FEMA, I was responsible to ensure that information about the federal response to the California wildfires was delivered swiftly, accurately, and transparently. As context, FEMA responds to between 200 and 1000 media calls weekly.
Under normal circumstances, public affairs staff members disseminate a daily written summary of federal activity for incidents of this magnitude in accordance with an interagency communication protocol known as Emergency Support Function 15. When necessary, press briefings are ...