Let’s all raise a Smokey Bear salute to former Oklahoma State Forester Mark Goeller.
A national expert on enhanced wildfire prediction and response coordination, he was fired by Governor Stitt last week after a 40-year career—apparently for not doing enough to protect Stitt’s hobby farm from burning to the ground during the wildfire outbreak that rolled through the state a few weeks ago.
Yep, that’s right.
As retribution for not dedicating as many state resources as possible to prioritize and protect the Governor’s personal property during a historic wildfire outbreak—one fueled by a deadly and destructive blend of dry air, drought-like conditions, and powerful howling winds—Stitt fired our state’s nationally recognized forestry director.
Well, at least that’s what I and just about everyone else who’s not banned from mortgage banking in Georgia can safely assume after six-plus years of watching our bitter, passive-aggressive, Trump-wannabe Governor in action.
The official company line is that Stitt fired Goeller—a widely respected public servant who has dedicated his life and career to forestry management—because he didn’t do a good job.
Here’s what Stitt said at a press conference:
As far as Mark’s departure... you know... he’s the head of the forestry department and we had a horrible, horrible wildfire in the state of Oklahoma.. I didn’t think they did a really good job.” Governor Kevin Stitt said at a Wednesday news conference.
Yep, let this be both a friendly reminder and a stern warning to all state emergency personnel:
In Oklahoma, your job isn’t to protect the public first. It’s to protect the Governor. Whether it’s saving his novelty farm from a wildfire or escorting his son home to Stillwater after a night of drinking and driving, your priority is clear—Stitt first, his family and friends second, and everyone else a distant third.
And if you forget that? If his personal property gets damaged during a wildfire, tornado, or flood? It’s your fault. And you better believe you’ll be the one taking the fall a couple of weeks later.
Naturally, Stitt’s decision to blame the forestry chief for wildfires sparked controversy across the state. His political rivals, critics—and even local fire departments—all blasted the Governor’s weak, passive-aggressive, bitter move.
As a result, Stitt issued a more formal—but still weak, passive-aggressive, and bitter—statement a couple of days later:
“Oklahoma just faced the worst wildfire in our state’s history. Over 515 families lost their homes. When lives are on the line, every resource must be deployed without hesitation. It became clear that didn’t happen. At the forestry director’s direction, firefighting resources were delayed, unused, or even called back during critical moments. That’s unacceptable. For this reason, he has been relieved of duty. We are committed to rebuilding stronger, and that starts with rebuilding trust in the agencies that are meant to protect us.”
Wow. Those are some pretty serious accusations!
Obviously, to back them, Stitt released to the press a bunch of corroborating evidence and documentation that proves and confirms Goeller’s dereliction of duty.
You know, like text message exchanges where Goeller downplays the threat of the fire, photos of emergency responders standing around twiddling their thumbs, or videos of firefighters leaving wildfires at “critical moments” to hit up happy hour at Eskimo Joe’s.
Check this out:
Okay, I misled you. Stitt didn’t release any of that information—probably because it doesn’t exist.
He also failed to explain why he, as Oklahoma’s governor, shouldn’t shoulder most of the blame for the state’s lackluster wildfire response. The smoke always rises to the top, right???
If anyone deserves to lose their job over this mess, it’s the state’s self-proclaimed “Chief Executive Officer”—the guy who failed to issue a statewide burn ban during the outbreak and kept the allegedly incompetent Goeller in charge of Oklahoma’s forestry department, despite the state’s ongoing battles with wildfires.
Hehe. Yeah, right. That would require leadership and accountability—two things Stitt clearly lacks.
Hell, about the only thing he’s good at is hypocrisy and looking like a stooge, which means we should expect him to release a commercial in a couple of weeks taking credit for the state’s great wildfire response.
While Stitt was issuing various statements and fire departments were rushing to his defense, Goeller stayed quiet. But last night, he finally addressed the situation with this Facebook update:
Wow. Look at that. We have a former civil servant handling a delicate situation with tact, class, and grace—and not passively blaming his underlings or making them scapegoats. No wonder he was fired!
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
