Urgent “red flag” alerts – meaning critical fire weather conditions – announced by the US National Weather Service (NWS) said moderate to strong wind and low humidity would continue on Friday morning, as five fires raged across the metropolis.
Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, described the impact of the fires as “total devastation and loss”.
“There are areas where everything is gone. There isn’t even a stick of wood left. It’s just dirt,” Bruderlin said.
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has come under intense criticism for her absence from the city during the first 24 hours of the crisis, when she was in Ghana, as part of an official White House delegation for the inauguration of that country’s president. She was assailed by political rivals on the right, including Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in the 2022 mayoral election, but also faced criticism from left, which accused the mayor of cutting the budget for firefighting to pay for increased policing.
the Guardian