California officials are pointing fingers at each other as public scrutiny grows over mismanagement in the Golden State that enabled the widespread death and destruction from ongoing wildfires.
First, an update: The latest count has 24 confirmed dead, but many more are still unaccounted for. More than 12,000 homes and other structures have been destroyed. And over 100,000 residents are still under evacuation orders. The state’s largest and most devastating fire in the Pacific Palisades is only 11 percent contained.
In the crosshairs: California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have both been rightly blamed for being caught unprepared for wildfires in a state that experiences natural disasters every year.
- Bass has been criticized for cutting the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) budget by roughly $18 million last year.
- Newsom has been criticized for allowing the state’s water systems to run dry, leaving hydrants empty when firefighters tried to contain the blaze.
Fire Chief blames Bass: LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley wrote a memo to Bass last month, informing her that the aforementioned cut she made to the department’s budget “severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
- Bass responded defensively, saying: “[T]here were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation.”
- Chief Crowley shot back in a separate interview, saying: “Yes, it was cut, and it did impact our ability to provide service.”
- Crowley added: “[W]hen a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water. We don’t control the water supply. Our firefighters are there to protect lives and property and to make sure that we’re properly trained and equipped.”
What about Newsom? A report late last week revealed that Newsom slashed $101 million in funding for wildfire prevention programs in the state’s 2025 fiscal budget.
- Newsom took to X to call this report “A ridiculous lie,” but his rebuttal was quickly hit with a Community Note correcting his rebuttal.
Zoom out: While cutting the budget for fire prevention, Newsom allocated an additional $2.6 billion in funding for illegal aliens.
Trump weighs in: On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump took to Truth Social to write:
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?”
The last word goes to Fire Chief Crowley, who was asked if California leaders failed her, to which she responded: “Yes.”
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