Commissioner Nikki Fried Shows Leadership During WildFires

As hundreds of people are forced to evacuate because of wildfires raging in Northwest and Central Florida, Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried has been on the ground in Walton, and Santa Rosa counties, working with local officials and emergency responders. As the only Statewide elected Democrat, Commissioner Fried showed Floridians what steady leadership looked like in a crisis.

In a stark contrast to Ron DeSantis, Commissioner Fried made it a priority to thank the front-line heroes who deserve the most credit, as opposed to DeSantis who took to Twitter to praise Donald Trump, not even mentioning our brave first responders.

Examples of Fried showing the leadership Floridians are looking for:

The New York Times: “This is an extremely dangerous and fast-moving wildfire situation that is evolving rapidly…” the Florida agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, whose department includes the state Forest Service, said.

ABC News: Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a news conference Thursday afternoon that fire officials are working around the clock to contain the wildfires.

CNN: At least 17 homes and buildings have burned, state Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried said.

FOX News: “The threat is far from over and there is no rain forecasted,” Fried said. She asked residents to stay alert and “be ready for a wildfire impacting their neighborhood.”

TIME: “…everyone in the affected area should follow directions from state and local officials,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Miami Herald: “The five-mile swamp fire grew 10 times in size since Wednesday morning, according to Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried on Thursday.”

Commissioner Fried also joined The Weather Channel live twice yesterday from the scene, showing the compassion that DeSantis has lacked: “Please make sure you’re being cautious. If I could tell you the stories I was hearing earlier today from our forestry officials and those here on the scene, they have not seen a fire like this in their entire careers, some of them with 30-plus years’ experience, with tears in their eyes of what our guys were able to do to prevent the expansion of this fire, and saving lives all throughout yesterday.”