Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced a notable moment of silence when she declined to respond to a reporter’s inquiry for a full two minutes. This occurred during the time when destructive wildfires were engulfing her city while she was out of the country.
Amidst the fury of the Los Angeles residents, Mayor Bass was criticized for her trip to Ghana while the city was in crisis due to the wildfires. This reaction was fueled by the fact that she had been given clear warnings about the ‘critical’ weather conditions in the days leading up to her departure.
Despite the advance notice from meteorologists about the looming threat of a potentially devastating fire, Bass chose to fly to Ghana to attend the presidential inauguration in that West African country on Tuesday.
The mayor was there to attend the inauguration of the new president and meet with the country’s first-ever female vice president.
She was cornered by journalist David Blevins from Sky News at the airport upon her return with an assistant, who both refused to answer his questions.
Bass immediately indicated that she’s not going to answer his questions and turned away.
Blevins then asked her a series of questions that she did not respond to.
‘Fire chiefs say that they’re really stretched to the limit and running out of water, what have you got to say to that? Have you no response to that?’
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stood stone-faced and refused to answer a reporter’s question for two full minutes after being out of the country as killed wildfires raged through her city
‘Do you owe your citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning?’
‘Do you regret cutting the fire department by millions of dollars, Madam Mayor? Have you nothing to say today?’
Bass tried to cut the LA Fire Department’s budget by some $23million in 2024 but settled for $17.6 million in cuts.
‘Elon Musk says that you’re utterly incompetent, are you considering your position? Have you absolutely nothing to say to citizens who are dealing with this disaster? No apologies for them?’
‘Do you think you should’ve been visiting Ghana while this was unfolding back home?’
Blevins then follows Bass out of a corridor at the airport before demanding she give a statement to the citizens of her city. Again, she negs him.
Bass then walks out a door and onto the tarmac.
‘To the thousands of families impacted by this horrific fire — the City of Los Angeles is providing resources and shelter as this emergency continues. To the hundreds of brave firefighters and first responders who have been responding all day to this blaze — we thank you. The City is working aggressively to confront this emergency,’
Bass flew out to attend the West African country’s presidential inauguration on Tuesday, after meteorologists warned that a ‘recipe for fire’ was on track to strike LA.
Furious Los Angelinos have blasted their mayor for traveling to Ghana while the city burns , despite having ample warning about ‘critical’ weather conditions in the days before
Media outlet INKL News said Wednesday morning that Bass was on her way back after the swearing-in of Ghana’s president John Dramani Mahama the day before.
Bass has been posting updates on her X account thanking LAPD firefighters for tackling the ongoing blaze, while sharing information about emergency shelters.
The California wildfires broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA.
They spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot in apocalyptic scenes.
The residents — one as old as 102 — waited there in their bedclothes as the night sky glowed red from flames and embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety.
Another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences.
In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.
The traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through and a bulldozer was brought in to push the abandoned cars to the side and create a path.
Hollywood’s biggest celebrities are picking up the pieces after discovering their affluent neighborhood was reduced to ash and rubble when the California wildfires tore though Pacific Palisades.
The death toll of the historic infernos have now reached five, as heroic firefighters still battle hellish conditions on the front lines of at least five different fires.
The homes of Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman and Miles Teller among those destroyed, while dozens of other stars now face an anxious wait alongside their neighbors to learn if anything could be saved.
Apocalyptic fire tore through the ritzy enclave of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, rapidly spreading to surrounding suburbs as a windstorm carried embers and debris in all directions.
Residents fled and then waited with bated breath to learn more about their homes, as news began trickling out that entire streets had been wiped off the map, firefighters were running out of water, and resources were being diverted to fight the fire on multiple fronts.
Now, the widespread devastation is becoming clearer as celebrities share their devastation upon discovering they’ve lost their million-dollar mansions.
