While hundreds of acres burned in the Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was overseas attending an event, according to a spokesperson for the mayor.
“She flew to Ghana as a part of a presidential diplomatic mission,” Zach Seidl, the mayor's director of communications, told L.A. TACO. Seidl could not confirm when the mayor flew to Ghana.
According to a January 4 email detailing the mayor’s schedule, President Joe Biden invited Bass to “travel to Ghana as part of a Presidential Delegation to attend the January 7 inauguration of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama as Ghana’s President.”
Coincidentally, Biden is currently stuck in Los Angeles due to the fires.
Last night, Seidl told L.A. TACO that the mayor had contacted local leaders while she was out of town and is expected to return to Los Angeles this morning.
“She has been in active communication with [LAFD] Chief Crowley, Council President Harris-Dawson, and other local leaders since early this morning and is flying home right now after participating in a Presidential diplomatic mission overseas and will be back in the morning,” Seidl said on the evening of January 7.
A spokesperson for Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson confirmed that Harris-Dawson is filling in for Bass as acting mayor.
Mayor Bass’ office outlined their plan for responding to the wind storm and potential fires in an email sent to reporters at 10:56 AM, roughly half an hour after the Palisades Fire broke out and quickly grew to 200 acres.
By nightfall, the “uncontrollable” blaze had grown to thousands of acres, destroying dozens of structures in the process.
This morning, local leaders held a press conference to provide updates on the Palisades and Eaton Fires and the Hurst Fire, which broke out near the Angeles Forest in Sylmar, and the Woodley Fire between Lake Balboa and Van Nuys.
During the press conference, city and county officials stressed that we're dealing with a historic natural disaster.
“This is not a normal red flag,” said Kevin McGowan, Director of LA County's Office of Emergency Management. “We've been in partnership with the National Weather Service for days before the arrival of this wind storm.”
When asked if Los Angeles was prepared for this historic event, L.A. County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said, “No, L.A. county and all 29 fire departments in our county are not prepared for this kind of widespread disaster.”
Marrone said the county was prepared to respond to one or two brush fires but not four. “There are not enough firefighters to address four separate fires of this magnitude, he said.”
During the press conference, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Crowley said she spoke to Bass earlier this morning and was expected to arrive in Los Angeles around noon today.
Celine Cordero, Mayor Bass' deputy chief of staff, added, “I want to assure the community and city that our mayor has been actively engaged 100% of the time the entire last 24 hours throughout this unfortunate event and crisis.”
“I just want to stress she's had 100% access the entire time she's been traveling and has been actively involved in the decision-making,” Cordero continued.
On social media, users pointed out that the most recent city of L.A. budget reduced funding for the city's fire department.
“Karen Bass’ budget called for the elimination of L.A.’s Emergency Management Department’s positions (the dpt that’s running the show),” cop-watcher William Gude wrote on X. “This is after she cut the Fire Department by nearly $17M.”
Hayes Davenport, a former staff member for Council District 4, pushed back on those claims on BlueSky. "I worked in LA City Hall when the budget passed. Our office voted No. But the idea that LAFD was "defunded" to increase the LAPD budget is not accurate. Both got increases due to salary hikes. LAFD's deal just happened after the budget process -- LAPD's was before."
This is a developing story.
