One Florida Democrat Burns When She Should Have Fiddled

Apr 11, 2022

We hear about wildfires all the time out West in California and Colorado. But the State of Florida has a significant amount of undeveloped land thick with trees and underbrush that routinely sees a risk of wildfire. Given that long-ago understood reality, how could the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services authorize a controlled burn in an area under a Fire Weather Warning from the National Weather Service?

On April 7, 2022, the Northwest Florida Water Management District published an announcement saying, in part:

“The Northwest Florida Water Management District plans to conduct a prescribed burn on the southeast portion of Garcon Point Water Management Area in Santa Rosa County on Friday, April 8.
“This burn will be conducted only under proper weather conditions and with approval from the Florida Forest Service, which authorizes prescribed burning in the state. Pending review of Friday morning’s weather conditions and final authorization from the Florida Forest Service, the prescribed burn will begin at approximately 9 a.m. (Central).”

This statement makes quite clear that no burn would be initiated unless the Florida Forestry Service – a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS) – signed off on the action. The forestry personnel would only be able to authorize a controlled burn with the authorization of people higher up the food chain at the FDACS.

But on Friday morning, April 8, 2022, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a “Red Flag Warning” for northwest Florida to include all of the Florida Panhandle. The warning was reported on the local ABC News affiliate serving the area, which stated:

“The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning Friday for an increased fire risk.
“A cold front has brought windy and dry conditions to the area. Conditions are very dry and dewpoints are in the 20s and 30s. Winds are forecast to be 15-25 mph with gusts to 35. A wind advisory was issued Friday at 10 AM and goes through 7 PM.
“These conditions would likely spread any outdoor fires rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. Conditions should improve starting Sunday.”

As a result of the decision to move ahead with what was supposed to be a 2,000-acre burn – a decision authorized by the FDACS, at 1:38 pm, residents living in the area of Dickerson City Road and Garcon Point Road, were evacuated because the “controlled” burn turned into an uncontrolled burn, a wildfire.

On April 9th, 2022, after burning 215 acres, the wildfire was still only 90 percent contained and subject to rekindling at the mercy of the winds. Three tractor-plow units, one helicopter, and one fixed-wing aircraft were being used to combat the wildfire and three additional tractor-plow units and two single-engine air tankers were dispatched to aid in battling the fire.

Why This Is Important

Wildfires destroy property, ruin lives, and kill people. To believe that they are any less serious than a structure fire, just because they happen in rural areas, would be a mistake that could cost you your life.

So, the management of controlled burns – a necessary activity in the proper maintenance of our forests and large open spaces – is a responsibility that should reach to the highest levels in any agency or department vested with that responsibility. In Florida, that is the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS), and that Department is led by Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried.

The events of April 8th, 2022, necessarily have to land at the feet of Ms. Fried because she is the head of that department. It is in her name that any authorization to execute a controlled burn in an area under an NWS Fire Weather Warning statement would have been issued. Her job – her duty, the reason for her existence in government – is to be aware of the activities of her department at all times. And when something as simple as realizing a “controlled burn” order should not be issued “falls through the cracks,” the consequences must be shouldered by “the boss,” in this case, Commissioner Fried.

Fried, a Democrat from South Florida (born in Miami), is the only Democrat to hold a statewide office and is currently running for governor against incumbent Ron DeSantis (R). In recent polling, DeSantis leads Fried by double digits and that lead is expanding.

The question that needs to be asked is this. What was Fried doing that she wasn’t doing her job in providing oversight to thwart an obvious and catastrophic error in the authorization of a controlled burn during an NWS Fire Weather Warning statement? It doesn’t take a detective to determine that she was busy politicking when she should have been putting the well-being of Floridians first and foremost.

But Fried isn’t a stranger to controversy where her gratuitous politicking is concerned.

Shortly after being elected to office, Fried demonstrated an intolerably high degree of narcissism in placing her image – a headshot – on every FDSCS tax stamp, most noticeable on every gas pump in the State of Florida.

The move exhibited a glaring lack of political prowess, not only subjecting her to ridicule for her vanity and political opportunism, but also for the fact she used taxpayer dollars in creating the tax stamps that obviously promoted Fried the politician.

There is also a great deal of controversy surrounding Fried’s finances.

An article in the publication Tallahassee Reports states:

“Fried’s net worth increased from $271,613, reported on June 18, 2018, to $1,401,563, reported on June 24, 2019. This is a 416% increase.
“Fried officially announced her candidacy for Agriculture Commissioner in June 2018, she was elected to her current position on November 6, 2018, and was sworn into office on January 8, 2019.
“The increase in personal net worth has occurred despite less than a $45,000 increase in her reported annual salary. In 2018, Fried reported a salary of $84,000 for her work as a lobbyist for the marijuana industry. As Agriculture Commissioner, her salary is now listed as $128,972.”

Fried is in a stormy relationship with her fiancé, Jake Bergmann, a prominent marijuana entrepreneur in Florida. Bergmann’s business dealings often result in interactions with the FDACS; interactions that require licensure decisions executed by Fried’s office. A conflict of interest is certainly a valid claim.

In June of 2020, Fried and Bergmann were witnessed engaging in a heated confrontation at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale resulting from a car accident in the hotel's parking lot. Fort Lauderdale Police escorted Bergmann off the property and a formal police report was filed Following the incident, Fried denied witness accounts that Bergmann was physically abusive to her. Fried fired a number of high-level staffers who allegedly corroborated Bermann’s actions.

What we have here is a pattern of horrible actions and decisions executed by Ms. Fried; decisions based in opportunism – personally, financially, and politically. And while the overwhelming majority of Floridians couldn’t care less about Fried’s romantic life or that there is an appearance of ethical impropriety in her relationship with a pot farmer who facilitated her rocket to millionaire status, we do care about her putting her political future above the safety of the citizens she is supposed to be serving.

Fried was playing politics while 215 acres burned, posing a threat to life and property to those in the affected area. Her negligence in exercising her purview in authorizing a controlled burn under an NWS Fire Weather Warning statement cost the State of Florida hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for the equipment and manpower needed to combat the wildfire.

Fried was fiddling while Dickerson City and Garcon Point burned. And now she wants to replace Ron DeSantis as Florida’s governor?