Donald Trump has finally broken his silence over the Los Angeles fires that have consumed the west coast city, after he failed to respond to California governor Gavin Newsom’s invitation to visit the devastated city.
Forecasters are warning that the strong winds which have been fuelling the Los Angeles wildfires are set to continue into next week, which have so far killed 16 and displaced nearly 200,000 people.
So far, at least 40,000 acres have been burned down – an area roughly a tenth of the size of Greater London.
Trump took to Truth Social, his social media platform, and said: ‘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?’
It comes after Gavin Newsom engaged in a spat with Trump over the fires.
On Friday he invited Trump to visit the city to survey the devastation wrought by the wildfires.
Newsom wrote in a letter: ‘In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines.
‘Hundreds of thousands of Americans – displaced from their homes and fearful for the future – deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.’
But less than a day later, he told Pod Save America that Trump’s messaging on the fires was ‘delusional’, adding that his claim that California was holding back water from firefighters to save an endangered fish is part of a ‘consistent mantra from Trump going back years and years, and it’s reinforced over and over within the right wing … and it’s profoundly ignorant.’
But California’s leadership has come under heavy scrutiny in the past week for claims they did not do enough to fund emergency services in the runup to the fires.
Fire Chief Kirstin Crowley took aim at the city’s leadership during an interview with KTTV on Friday, admitting it had failed those affected by the fires and prevented the LA Fire Department from effectively doing its job.
‘We are screaming to be properly funded to make sure that our firefighters can do their jobs so that we can serve the community,’ Crowley said, adding that there were ‘huge gaps’ in firefighters’ ability to tackle the blazes on the ground.
She joins a chorus of high profile celebrities who have hit out at the city’s handling of the ongoing wildfires, which have so far killed 11 people, ravaged communities, and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their properties.
This includes reality star Khloe Kardashian, who rallied around Crowley to share her furious response at the mayor’s decision to cut around $17.5 million from the fire department budget for this fiscal year.
During an interview with Gigi Graciette, Crowley stated that the mayor’s budget cuts for the LAFD affected the fire fight throughout Southern California, adding that the department was ‘not properly funded’.
Reacting to her statement on Instagram, Khloe said she ‘stood behind’ the fire chief before dubbing Mayor Bass a ‘joke’.
Mayor Bass has also been cricitised for flying out to attend a presidential inauguration in Ghana even though meteorologists had warned a ‘recipe for fire’ was on track to strike LA.
Meanwhile, on Friday former reality star Spencer Pratt announced that he intends to file a lawsuit against California for its alleged negligence after his home was tragically burnt down in the Pacific Palisades fire.
The fires may soon get worse, as a red flag and fire watch warning issued at 6pm local time on Saturday has now been extended into Wednesday night igniting fears of further devastation.
The Santa Ana winds will largely affect mountain and foothill communities in Los Angeles and Ventura County and will be felt more strongly in the Santa Susana Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains.
‘The general duration of this is not looking good,’ National Weather Service meteorlogist Rose Schoenfield told the LA Times.
‘Our concern is winds picking up tonight and then on Monday through Wednesday.’
The federal agency also revealed that the fires and power outages have affected some of its radio and observation equipment, leading to monitoring delays.
Winds of up to 70mph are being anticipated, which could push the Eaton Fire further south of Altadena.
This combined with a lack of significant rainfall in more than eight months is generating tinderbox conditions which transformed the blazes into infernos which have razed entire neighborhoods.
