Joe Biden claimed that Los Angeles fire hydrants hadn’t run dry because of a water shortage, but due to power being cut to water pumps because of the killer wildfires.
As of Thursday, seven people have died in one of the most destructive blazes in the county’s history, over 10,000 structures are destroyed, roughly 400,000 customers statewide were without power and over 180,000 have been evacuated.
The systemic failures in the deep blue city have led many to wonder how things could’ve gotten this out of hand – and led many to call for the resignation of Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom.
Amid furore from critics saying that water was unavailable to fire crews, Biden explained that the problems were self-inflicted to avoid further fanning the flames.
‘What I know from talking to the governor, there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage,’ he said in a press briefing Thursday.
‘The fact is the utilities, understandably, shut off power because they are worried the lines that carried energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires.
‘When it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water, that’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.’
In an attempt to rectify the situation, Biden said Cal Fire and other state officials are bringing in generators.
Joe Biden claimed that Los Angeles fire hydrants hadn’t run dry because of a water shortage, but due to power being cut to water pumps because to the killer wildfires
As of Thursday, seven people have died, over 10,000 structures are destroyed, roughly 400,000 customers statewide were without power and over 180,000 have been evacuated
He added that Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, is bringing in generators to help with the shortage of water coming out of the hydrants.
Biden’s press conference came as the affluent suburbs of Calabasas and Hidden Hills, home to the Kardashians, were issued an urgent evacuation order as a new apocalyptic fire tears through West Hills.
The new blaze prompted evacuations Thursday in and around Los Angeles even as firefighters aided by calmer winds saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region’s deadly and devastating wildfires, while the enormity of the devastation started to emerge.
Heroic first responders were alerted to a new fire in the upper Los Angeles-Ventura County border, dubbed the Kenneth Fire, spreading rapidly through the West Hills and encroaching upon homes in nearby Calabasas and Hidden Hills.
Extraordinary drone footage highlights the unprecedented extent of damage across southern California as once magnificent homes, million-dollar celebrity enclaves.
The Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley near the West Hills neighborhood and close to Ventura County. The evacuation order covered parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
The fast moving Kenneth blaze is already encompassing 700 acres and threatening the Malibu Canyon area north of the 101 Freeway near Calabasas, home to the Kourtney Kardashian and Will Smith. Kim and Khloe Kardashia live in nearby Hidden Hills.
Mandatory evacuation orders are in place as firefighters drop water bombs from the skies in an effort to contain the blaze, which is being spurred on by strong Santa Ana winds.
Already, the road out of Calabasas is gridlocked with bumper to bumper traffic as locals heed warnings and abandon their homes.
Two people ride bicycles amid the destruction left behind by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles
Traffic backs up as residents evacuate ahead of the Kenneth Fire
Residents across southern California have been warned for days to have bags full of important documents and possessions packed and ready to grab in an emergency.
Dozens of blocks were flattened to smoldering rubble in scenic Pacific Palisades. Only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remained. In Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
At least five churches, a synagogue, seven schools, two libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and groceries were lost.
The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage or specifics about how many structures burned.
As of Thursday, seven people have been confirmed dead from the fires, while Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County called for ‘patience’ with official death counts.
‘Right now, frankly, we don’t know yet,’ he said. ‘I think the death toll will rise. I hope I’m wrong.’
Across Los Angeles some 180,000 people have been given mandatory evacuation orders, while another 200,000 have been put on alert and warned to consider fleeing their homes.
Officials with Los Angeles County say an evacuation order alert for residents near the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills was mistakenly sent countywide on Thursday afternoon.
A general view of houses burned by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood
The alert was only intended for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills.
The damage from the two largest fires – the Pacific Palisades blaze and Eaton inferno – has been immense. Up to 10,000 structures have been wiped out, officials say.
AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, on Thursday increased its estimate of the damage and economic loss to $135-$150 billion.
Previously, the company had estimated the damage could reach $57 billion.
Already, 600 service members have arrived from the Cal Guard along with equipment to help local authorities. They brought 10 rotary wing aircrafts and two C-130 planes to help fight the fires.
Roughly 400,000 customers statewide were without power as of Thursday, according to the tracker PowerOutage.us.
Nearly 180,000 residents are under evacuation orders, per officials.
Many Los Angeles residents have called for the resignation of Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom .
The fires have ripped areas apart, turning the picturesque neighborhoods into smoldering ash-laden sites.
Biden’s presser was an attempt to gain some narrative control on the disaster which has largely been blamed on California’s Democrat leaders.
Donald Trump has blamed the fires on Newsom for being unprepared for the devastating wildfires that have cropped up all around Los Angeles causing immeasurable damage.
‘Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.’
Newsom’s press office slammed Trump for claiming he could demand water flow into California at any time and isn’t doing so on purpose.
‘There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction,’ a spokesperson for Newsom wrote.
‘The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.’
Bass, meanwhile, has faced heavy criticism for being in Ghana 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.
Firefighters battle the Eaton Fire in strong winds as many homes burn on January 7, 2025 in Pasadena
She has shrugged off calls for her to resign over her response to devastating wildfires.
Bass tried to cut the LA Fire Department’s budget by some $23million in 2024 but settled for $17.6 million in cuts.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday, she said: ‘My number one focus and the focus of all of us here is we have to protect lives, save lives and save homes.
‘Rest assured, when that is done, when we are safe, when lives have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn’t work, and to correct or hold accountable any body, department, individual etc.
Scores of A-listers have taken to their social media accounts to hit out at Bass and the city over the response to the fires.
Sarah Michelle Geller said on her Instagram: ‘City of LA you want everyone to evacuate yet you have complete gridlock and not one traffic cop on the roads helping.’
Actress Sara Foster added: ‘We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty.
‘Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish.
People embrace as they return to the home after it has been burned down by wildfires in the Los Angeles area
In this aerial view taken from a helicopter, multiple fires burn in Los Angeles county
Our fire department budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits. RESIGN. Your far left policies have ruined our state. And also our party.’
Former Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy also expressed his dissatisfaction on social media.
‘5th largest economy on the planet. Firefighters didn’t have enough water pressure to do their job?! Are you joking me?! The taxes we pay for 3rd world infrastructure is unbelievable?! Come on.
Actor James Woods also blasted the mayor, blaming her and California Governor Gavin Newsom for the fire.
‘This fire is not from ‘climate change,’ you ignorant a**hole. It’s because liberal idiots like you elect liberal idiots like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass.
‘One doesn’t understand the first thing about fire management and the other can’t fill the water reservoirs’, he wrote.
Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes, Paris Hilton, James Woods, Billy Crystal and his wife Janice all claimed to have seen their homes go up in smoke in the Palisades Fire.
LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley believes the fire started accidentally in a back garden around 10am Tuesday morning.
She told reporters the fire is ‘spreading at a speed beyond anything we’ve seen… it’s now unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime.’
20 people have also been arrested on suspicion of raiding homes in parts of Southern California during the blazes.
On Thursday, Kathryn Barger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said the sheriff’s department had now arrested 20 people for looting or burglary.
The rise in cases has caused a number of residents of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood to hire a private security firm to watch their homes.
More than 1,500 California firefighters are tasked with quelling the wind-whipped wildfires, while the California National Guard prepares to deploy more military personnel to assist.
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