In October 2007, the "San Diego Union-Tribune" reported that during the California wildfires of October 2007, Aguirre had called for an evacuation of the entire City of San Diego. Aguirre was heavily criticized for the idea but said that the paper had distorted his position. Aguirre's claim was that he had written a memo to the San Diego Mayor at the height of the fires, advising that the city should draw up a voluntary evacuation plan in light of federal regulations, the immediate threat of the fire, as well as concerns over weather conditions and air quality.