Comedian Adam Carolla believes that California’s massive wildfires will actually assist in cutting red tape for building.

The comedian spoke to The Daily Wire and said that when he was a teenager he wanted to be a firefighter but he did not meet, what he believed was, the criteria they were looking for.

“I tried to be a firefighter, you know, when I was 19 … I wasn’t black enough, or Hispanic enough, or female enough to be let on to the crew. So I did have a little kind of special place in my heart for equity, ‘cause I was poor, and needed a job, and was willing to work,” he said.

“The people who just want their property saved or just want their kids saved or their pets saved or their husband or their wife saved don’t care about equity. And I also don’t think people in 2025 America care at all,” he said.

“We just sort of want the best-qualified person,” the comedian said. “I think it’s racist and a lot of projection when they would say …the fire department needs to resemble the community that it serves. I’d always go, I don’t know, why? Who cares?”

Carolla also said that he was in an evacuation zone but that his apartment complex was spared. But, he said, much of his neighborhood was burned and he believes that when people see the red tape California has for building that it will inspire a “renaissance.” 

“I had a front-row seat to like really bad regulatory systems and lots of overreach and too much intervention by the government early and I’ve complained about it my entire radio career, but no one else cared because they just didn’t come from that,” the comedian said.

“So they didn’t really experience it, but I think now they’re getting a little bit of a front-row seat to it. And so I hope sort of globally it is impactful,” he added.