The world watches as LA burns

Jan 08, 2025

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire around a burned structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

Multiple fast-moving wildfires burning throughout Los Angeles County have killed at least five people. | Etienne Laurent/AP

FIRE AND FURY: The impending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump — and his disdain for California’s political leaders — loomed large as tens of thousands of Los Angeles County residents were forced to flee a series of catastrophic and fast-spreading wildfires.

Trump and his GOP allies almost immediately seized on the fires to slam Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass over water and infrastructure problems. And Trump’s imminent accession to power creates anxiety for leaders in desperate need of federal support.

Multiple fires propelled by gusting winds have killed at least five people, burned thousands of buildings and prompted tens of thousands of evacuations throughout the county of more than 9.6 million residents, where about a quarter of all Californians live.

President Joe Biden today committed assistance resources during a visit to the area, our Melanie Mason reports. But Trump — who already threatened to withhold federal disaster relief from the blue state during his first term — was quick to attack Newsom over the fires.

That does not bode well for the governor, who will almost certainly need to coordinate with Trump over future federal aid, as fire recovery efforts will likely continue for years.

Here’s where things stand this afternoon:

There are still multiple fires burning throughout Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times and Cal Fire, and all of them are 0 percent contained. The two biggest blazes, the Palisades Fire in west Los Angeles and the Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena, have burned more than 10,000 acres each.

The fires have killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,100 homes, businesses and other structures, the LA Times reported.

The Associated Press reports at least 70,000 residents are under evacuation orders, and hundreds of thousands of power customers are without electricity.

Bass *just* got back from a terribly-timed international trip. The mayor traveled to Ghana during the weekend to attend a presidential inauguration. She returned today to mounting criticism over her absence and problems with the city’s fire hydrants hindering firefighting efforts, as our Alex Nieves reports.

Republican Ric Grenell blamed a lack of hydrant water on Bass, repeatedly sharing X posts calling for her to resign.

“You're the mayor, and you've got a life threatening, catastrophic windstorm coming into proportions that haven't been seen in however long,” Rick Caruso, Bass’ 2022 mayoral opponent, told Playbook. “And there is Santa Ana wind, which means it could result in fire. And in the warning it's at high risk of fire. Of course, you don't go, that's not leadership, that's abandoning your post.”

Bass shared an X post this afternoon with a video showing her convening with Newsom, Sen. Alex Padilla and Cal Fire officials in front of burned buildings. But the political damage was already done.

Newsom, who appeared alongside Biden at a Santa Monica news conference today, scrambled to lock down disaster aid while fighting Trump misinformation. The incoming president this morning ranted on Truth Social about the fires, attributing the out-of-control flames to state rules protecting endangered species, our Camille Von Kaenel reports.

“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!” Trump wrote. “He is [to] blame for this.”

Newsom’s office hit back, saying the “water restoration declaration” Trump referenced was “pure fiction” and the governor is “focused on protecting people, not playing politics.”

The governor canceled a planned trip to Washington, D.C. for President Jimmy Carter’s memorial.

— with help from Blake Jones

IT’S WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Josh Lowenthal speaks on a bill before the Assembly.

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal thinks social media platforms should be held accountable when disinformation that’s “created in a negligent way” on their sites causes harm. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP

DISASTER DISINFO: Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal is peeved about the Trump-led firestorm of dubious factual claims about the blazes scorching SoCal — so much so that it could inspire future legislation.

The Long Beach Democrat told Playbook today that he thinks social media platforms should be held accountable when disinformation that’s “created in a negligent way” on their sites causes harm. He said he’d consider legislation addressing the issue but added that it’s “not on the table right now,” especially with fires still wreaking havoc in the Los Angeles area.

“This catastrophe underscores why the veracity of information is so critical, because it's literally life or death,” he said. “If there [are] for-profit outfits that are stepping in the way of that, then we have to address it.”

Lowenthal’s comments come after Mark Zuckerberg, head of the social media giant Meta, announced yesterday that the company would end third-party fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram and Threads in favor of community-generated notes, similar to Elon Musk’s X. Conservatives applauded the move as pro-free speech, but liberals blasted it as a dangerous development that may encourage online disinformation.

Lowenthal worried Meta’s new policy would put posts from local authorities “on the same footing as wild conspiracy theories” during life-threatening events. He added: “It's a horrible, horrible strategic decision. We're all going to bear the consequences of it.” — Tyler Katzenberger

ON THE BEATS

Firefighters work inside a burned structure while battling the Eaton Fire.

California lawmakers in Sacramento returned to Los Angeles-area districts scorched by wind-driven wildfires. | Nic Coury/AP

ON THE MOVE: Los Angeles-area lawmakers back in Sacramento for the legislative session quickly began making their way back to their Southern California districts as the wildfires worsened.

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and state Sen. Ben Allen — both of whom represent coastal districts hit hard by the fires — took part in a Cal Fire briefing with Biden and Newsom this morning just outside the Palisades Fire area. Allen has not yet been forced to evacuate, but he spent the night helping friends get to safety.

Assemblymember Nick Schultz, who represents Burbank-area residents fleeing the Eaton Fire farther inland, managed to get on a flight home yesterday.

This morning, Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel and John Harabedian took a rental car down Interstate 5 after they were unable to catch flights south.

Harabedian’s Pasadena district has been devastated by the Eaton Fire, and he told Playbook his parents and siblings are staying at his home after evacuating. The assemblymember’s own house is just outside the evacuation zone, but he anticipates he may be forced to leave as the fire progresses.

FIRE POLITICS: California Democrats said they’re most concerned about evacuations, air quality and power outages in their fire-scorched districts, downplaying Republican disaster-management criticisms.

“I'm not particularly interested in a handful of Republican operatives who want to take political cheap shots on social media in the midst of a horrific disaster,” Gabriel said.

The state lawmaker is grateful to Assembly Republican colleagues who have reached out to check in, saying most people are not “trying to score partisan points on social media.”

“There are always lessons to be learned,” Schultz said. “We can always do things better. And while there is certainly a time and a place to have a very honest retrospective look at what happened and how we could do it better, what is most helpful right now, however, is assistance.”

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said he instantly thought of Paradise, the Northern California community destroyed in a deadly 2018 wildfire, when he saw images of Pacific Palisades.

He said Newsom has “done more to politicize wildfire than anyone I know,” saying the governor has used fire-torn communities in his district as backdrops for climate change initiatives.

Gallagher said he remains confident Trump will come through with disaster relief “because my history with President Trump has been that he provided for every request.”

“The Trump administration was very good to California,” he said. “Obviously there's some differences of opinion between the governor and the president right now, and I don't think that that will stop.”

— with help from Camille Von Kaenel

WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY

— Photos capture the out-of-control fires devastating Southern California. (Associated Press)

— Only a small handful of Trump nominees seem likely to secure immediate confirmation, creating tensions between Republican senators and the incoming president’s allies. (POLITICO)

— California’s broken state unemployment benefits system remains an albatross for Newsom and lawmakers. (CalMatters)

AROUND THE STATE

— Escaping the Palisades Fire was a chaotic and terrifying experience for some Angelenos. (Los Angeles Times)

— San Francisco may get a high-density development at the 20-acre Caltrain railyards near Mission Bay and the South of Market. (San Francisco Chronicle)

— Two Fresno County Republicans are dueling over leadership of their region’s party. (GV Wire)

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