The is the exactly wrong approach of militia groups.

This is a security issue. There are no background checks and a GROUP of people can carry out looting to say the least. What next, uneducated and uncertified EMTs.

Firefighters are well trained (click here). Volunteer firefighters still have to go through training and security checks. No one needs uncertain loyalties of militias among firefighters. If trained personnel begin to feel insecure in their work, they will leave.

Firefighting is not rehab.

If militias want to rehab their public profile, THEY NEED TO DISBAND.

Hunt clubs come to mind. No war machines needed!

July 27, 2022
By Tony Briscoe, Salvador Hernandez, Christian Martinez, Summer Lin

Mariposa - Nearly 3,000 firefighters and first responders (click here) have flooded the Sierra foothills of Mariposa County battling the explosive Oak fire, but it’s the guys in camouflage fatigues and surplus war vehicles that have most alarmed some evacuees and monitors of extremist groups.

As fire crews made headway Tuesday against a blaze that has roared through 18,000 acres, destroyed 25 homes and forced thousands to flee their homes, the presence of a self-described militia whose members handed out food and offered help to evacuees has raised concerns among some.

Calling itself the Echo Company of the California State Militia’s 2nd Regiment, the group had set up a field kitchen off Highway 140 recently and told the Merced Sun-Star it was offering food, water and a place to stay for those in need. Online, the group posts videos of members training with rifles, shields and other equipment, along with the group’s tagline: “We who dare.”...