BUSH COMMENDS AREA FIREFIGHTERS FUNDRAISER LURES PRESIDENT TO L.A.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

On a brief stop Tuesday during his one-day California fundraising trip, President George W. Bush took time to commend firefighters for their monthlong effort to battle the Day Fire that burned more than 250 square miles of Los Padres National Forest.

Dressed in a dark suit and royal-blue tie, Bush was greeted on the airport tarmac by a delegation that included Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Sheriff Lee Baca, Arcadia Mayor Roger Chandler, actor Bruce Boxleitner and retired Air Force Col. Paul Gill.

Before heading off to a GOP fundraiser, Bush said he'd been briefed on the Day Fire, which was sparked Sept. 4 by a resident burning rubbish and contained on Monday, four weeks later.

``I'm pleased to hear we're making progress to contain fires once they start, but we have a lot more work to do,'' Bush said to reporters. ``I believe Congress needs to pass further laws that will enable us to restore forests once they've been burned.''

Bush presented the President's Volunteer Service Award to Matt Cook, 17, of Los Angeles, who collected 10,000 signatures on a mile-long yellow ribbon that will be sent to U.S. troops in Iraq.

``I'm floating, my feet aren't touching the ground and they haven't for a few days now,'' Cook said after the meeting.

Bush and his party then boarded four helicopters that ferried them to West Los Angeles. Motorists had been warned that streets around the University of California, Los Angeles, and several exits of the San Diego Freeway would be blocked during evening rush hour as a motorcade made its way to the Holmby Hills home of venture capitalist Elliott Broidy for an event that raised an estimated $1.3 million for the Republican Party.

Guests at the party included those who had contributed $10,000 in the last year to the Republican National Committee.

Broidy heads Broidy Capital Management and is among the state's biggest Republican donors. He was one of the major contributors to Bush's second inaugural gala in 2005 and was appointed in January to the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council. He also serves on the Angeles Board of Fire and Police Pensions.

Earlier in the day, Bush visited Stockton and was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., Tuesday evening.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

President George W. Bush waves as he steps out of Air Force One on Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer