California News Dump
A brief roundup of CA fire news for those living beyond the Golden Wall
It’s been an insane few days and the news is coming fast and furious, both on the fire front and the mismanagement front. I’ve been using my social media reach to share information and relay reports from local live outlets in real time and from other watchdog accounts. With the fires ballooning to 40,000 acres across Los Angeles County, there has been a lot of information to relay.
A lot has been going on and I thought it might be helpful for some people who aren’t in California and glued to local news to have an easy round-up of recent top fire-related stories to sift through. Here ya be!
The Excuses Run Dry
In an unbelievable twist that even Hollywood couldn’t write, it turns out the LA Dept. of Water and Power allowed hydrants to run dry in critical areas like Pacific Palisades, which suffered the heaviest of losses during the worst of Tuesday’s outbreaks. Up to 95% of the town has been destroyed.
LADWP CEO Janisse Quiñones earns $750,000 per year. To add insult to injury, Mayor Karen ‘GhanaBass reportedly urged administrators to slash the LAFD by an extra $49 million shortly before Tuesday’s destructive firestorm.
A current senior LAFD official also told DailyMail.com that some hydrants in the Palisades were not working when desperate firefighters tried to use them this week, and that they had not been fixed because of budget cuts by LA Mayor Karen Bass.
DailyMail.com exclusively obtained a memo to LAFD 'top brass' sent on Monday January 6, the day before the Palisades Fire began, revealing demands from Bass to cut the department's budget by a further $49million, on top of $17.6million of cuts already voted on by the city council.
Fire Chief Not Fired
Beleaguered LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley has been facing down rumors that a swift dismissal might be on the way as administrators scramble to pass the bucks. Crowley was called to a private meeting with the Mayor on Friday and emerged with job in tact, despite growing rumors.
"On Friday, January 10th, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles City Fire Department met with Mayor Karen Bass. Their foremost priorities continue to be fighting the current wildfires and safeguarding Angelenos. It is important to note that the Fire Chief was not dismissed and is in full command of the LAFD," the department said in a statement.
Speculation surrounding the termination came after L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Crowley did not appear at a Friday night press conference regarding the wildfires. The mayor's office also said that Crowley remains the chief and has not resigned.
Gavin Pods America, Abandons Los Angeles
Gavin Newsom’s nonstop string of blunders in the wake of these fires continues as he scrambles to rescue any political future in his party. Instead of leading during a time of crisis, he has been playing defense in the court of public opinion. Even as Los Angeles burned, Newsom thought his best move was to *checks notes* podcast.
Popular liberal political podcast Pod Save America flew into Sacramento Friday to interview the Governor and give him an opportunity to defend himself against “right-wing” charges of neglect and mismanagement.
On a completely separate note, so far 16 people have died in the Los Angeles fires.
Nobody Does It Better…At Least Not Government
In the disorganization and chaos of Tuesday’s outbreaks, Angelenos and Californians were desperate for information, but not much was forthcoming from authorities. Crews were doing their jobs. Administrators were not.
As with everything else, people had to turn to their own devices to find information, and one place many landed was the WatchDuty app. The app quickly shot to number one on the Apple store.
Alex Heath of The Verge wrote up a nice little story on the 501©(3), which you can view HERE.
Many social media users from Northern California told me they had been using the app for quite a while after a decade of horrific fire events. WatchDuty has been near perfect and instantaneous with fire and response updates.
It seems like the city of Los Angeles, with its millions and billions of dollars flowing through City Hall, would have state-of-the-art emergency management and information systems. How does a charity app outpace one of the biggest cities in the nation?
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
If the Vice President’s home isn’t safe, how can anyone be safe?
KTLA is reporting two suspects, possibly dressed all in black, were detained at Harris’ Brentwood home on Saturday.
Police confirmed to KTLA that officers detained two people at Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Brentwood during curfew hours on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Police Department said a call came into the West L.A. station around 4:40 a.m., reporting a potential burglary on the Vice President’s property.
Officers responded to the residence located on Bundy Drive, north of Sunset Drive, and found two individuals on the property.
Some reports said the subjects were two men dressed all in black, but that detail has yet to be confirmed by police.
Brentwood is one of the communities currently under evacuation orders for the Palisades Fire. This story is developing.
DEI in LA DOA? (I’m very tickled with myself for this one)
The nation continues to argue bitterly over DEI-first public policy and the evidence against it in Los Angeles mounts as LAFD Deputy Chief Kristine Larson seems to have found out the internet is forever.
An old clip highlighting diversity in the fire department has resurfaced, in which Larson talks about representation being a priority for first responders.
“You want to see somebody that respond to your house, your emergency- whether it’s a medical call or a fire call - that looks like you,” Larson can be seen saying in the clip.
Larson says she’s slapped down critics who say she can’t carry a man out of a burning building by telling them a man who needs her to carry him out of a burning building got himself into the wrong place.
"'Is she strong enough to do this,'" Larson asked, relating criticism she's received, "or 'You couldn't carry my husband out of a fire.' Which my response is, 'He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.'"
Larson, per the Los Angeles Fire Department page, "has completed a DEI certification program through Cornell University and is participating in the International Association of Fire Chief’s Diversity Executive Leadership Program."
The page adds that the program seeks to "advance DEI within the fire service, with a cohort of members from around the Country." Larson has also "worked in the Firefighter Recruitment Section, the Fire Prevention Bureau and the Equity and Human Resources Bureau," according to the LAFD website.
I’ll also leave this right here with the caveat that I think it’s a completely fair question, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel.
A few last things:
Here’s a pretty interesting video of a fire tornado
Latest containment numbers per CAL FIRE as of 1:21 a.m.
Last update before I head to bed: Crews continue their heroic efforts to defend homes in the Palisades fire. Lines seem to be holding and despite predictions of increased winds by this time, things seem relatively calm and helicopter air drops are continuing to target hot spots near neighborhoods. Weather reports still predicting dangerous wind gusts through Monday. Fire authorities have so far expressed confidence in the pace of the fire fight and continue to warn about the dangers of possible winds.
Godspeed, Los Angeles.
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Kristine Larson is an absolute idiot. If I’m trapped in a fire and look up to see a big black man coming to rescue me, I’m not going to despair because he doesn’t look like me. What a stupid justification of DEI.