Your support helps us tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to big tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the finances of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word,’ which shines a light on American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know the importance of analyzing the facts of messaging. .
At such a critical moment in American history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to continue sending journalists to tell both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to block Americans from our reporting and analysis with a paywall. We believe that quality journalism should be available to everyone and paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
JD Vance led the Republican attack on CaliforniaRussian state and local governments on Sunday as conservatives eagerly piled Democratic leaders over insufficient water supplies and emergency interventions while firefighters continue to fight forest fires around Los Angeles.
On Sunday, incoming vice president said Fox News Sunday‘s Shannon Bream that California’s leaders were incompetent.
“We have to do a better job. We need competent, good governance,” Vance said. “There’s been a serious lack of competent management in California, and I think that’s one of the reasons these fires have gotten so bad.”
Destruction in Los Angeles over the past week was huge; three large wildfires and several smaller wildfires devastated entire communities, leaving thousands under mandatory evacuation orders. Entire suburbs, such as Pacific Palisades and Altadena, are it was thought to be largely destroyed.
Initial reports over the past week had firefighters stretched and unable to access water in many communities. The state has been in drought conditions for months, and in the Palisades there were reports of fire hydrants being broken as firefighters tried in vain to contain the blaze.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom has requested an investigation into water usage and reports of fire hydrants not working in and around Los Angeles County. U a letter sent to municipal officials, he promised state funds for the investigation.
By Wednesday of last week, he told CNN, the district had “emptied all of ours [water] resources.” In a letter to water officials a few days later, he requested information about why the Santa Ynez Reservoir was closed for repairs and not available to help firefighters.
Water shortages in Los Angeles County they were just part of the reason why firefighters had such a hard time battling three major wildfires in the region. Strong winds reaching speeds of around 80 mph and extremely dry conditions in the scrub were the main factors that led to the destruction of more than 10,000 homes and other structures in the area during the past week.
Those winds are expected to return tonight, fueling fears that conditions could worsen again. The wind complicated efforts to airlift water and firefighting agents, and caused the fire to spread rapidly.
Newsom said in an interview broadcast this weekend that the fires would be one of the worst natural disasters in the nation’s history.
“I think it’s just going to be in terms of the cost associated with it in terms of scale and scope,” he told NBC News.
He also stressed that water shortages in the days after the fire were localized and did not reflect regional preparedness efforts, targeting Vance’s boss Donald Trump over the latter’s own comments about California’s wildfire preparedness.
“I don’t know what [Trump]he means when he talks about the smell of the Delta in the reservoirs,” the governor said.
“The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here in Southern California,” he said. “That wrong and disinformation… I don’t think it benefits or helps any of us. Responding to Donald Trump’s insults – we would spend another month. I am very familiar with them. Any elected official he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
Although Vance didn’t push the topic in his interview this weekend, the broader conservative movement has coined a cartoonish image of California government as incompetent and helpless — a direct result of an imagined artwork ostensibly made up of LGBT+ people and celebrities.
Since Los Angeles is the home of the American film and television industry, it influenced that image, but also the response of the mayor of the city, Karen Bass — who was in Ghana, at the inauguration of the African nation’s president, when the crisis began.
Congressional Republicans said this week that disaster relief for the California wildfires would come with certain requirements, likely related to demanding standards for wildfire preparedness.