LA fires: Mayor faces flak for foreign tour as Biden, Harris cancel their trips over devastating blazes

While the city of Los Angeles was burning to ashes, its Mayor Karen Bass was on the other side of the globe and was part of the American delegation sent by US President Joe Biden to Ghana. Bass was visiting the African nation for the inauguration of its new president. According to The New York Times, the former Democratic Congresswoman who became the mayor of the city in 2022, did not return to Los Angeles until Wednesday afternoon.

By this time, more than 1,000 homes were burned and 100,000 people across the region had been forced to flee their homes. The mayor’s absence drew severe backlash from people in California as they struggled to survive the tragedy. Throughout the whole tragedy, many residents complained that there was insufficient warning from officials about the likelihood of devastating fires.

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The National Weather Service in Los Angeles had begun warning of “extreme fire weather conditions" by Thursday last week. By Sunday morning, the warnings became even more concerning with the NWS saying “rapid fire growth and extreme behaviour with any fire starts.” Despite all the warnings from the Meteorological department, Mayor Bass posted her warning on X only by Monday.

‘Zero preparation’

What makes the matter concerning is the fact that Bass was already in California when she issued the alarm over the matter for the very first time. Her office did not even send out a news release about fire risk until nearly 11 am on Tuesday morning. By this time, a massive blaze in Pacific Palisades had already broken out.

“There was zero preparation. There was zero thought here,” Michael Gonzales, 47, whose home burned down in Pacific Palisades told The New York Times. His family of five had to camp out in a hotel in Santa Monica on Wednesday as they began figuring out what to do next.

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Many claimed that Bass made a “poor decision” to remain overseas despite several forecasters warning that the situation would turn out to be the most dangerous fire the country witnessed in more than a decade. “It was an utter breakdown in leadership and it starts with the mayor’s office,” Gonzales said in an interview.

Amid criticism, Bass defended her move in her first news conference since returning on Wednesday. She insisted that the disaster was the result of months of little rain and winds that had not been seen in the city for at least 14 years. “We have to resist any, any effort to pull us apart,” she said.

Bass insisted that she came back as soon as she could after the fire started to engulf several parts of Southern California. “I took the fastest route back, which included being on a military plane,” she said. But what was interesting in this whole situation is the fact that while Bass was parading around in Ghana, her bosses cancelled their respective overseas trips.

Harris and Biden both cancelled their trips abroad

As the city struggles to control the ravaging blaze, both US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris cancelled their respective trips abroad. Harris was scheduled to take place in Singapore, Bahrain and Germany due to the wildfires in her home state. Harris’s decision came a day after Biden cancelled his trip to Italy, where he was due to meet Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“In response to the historic wildfires in Los Angeles, the Vice-President has decided to cancel her and (her husband’s) upcoming trip to Singapore, Bahrain and Germany,” the White House said on Jan 9. This begs the question of whether it was needed for Bass to travel abroad while her city was in shambles.

On Thursday, city officials confirmed that water tanks ran dry during the intense firefight early Wednesday in Pacific Palisades. The authorities noted that the water demand surged four times the normal rate in just 15 hours. They maintained that their system was not designed to supply so much water in such a short period.

“The lack of water in the hydrants, I don’t think there’s an excuse,” said Rick Caruso, a real estate developer who lost to Bass in the mayoral race in 2022. “This was very predictable,” added referring to the forecasts that predicted the devastating windstorm. Caruso served two stints as the President of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He maintained that it would take time to account for why firefighters struggled to get enough water to fight the fires.

“This is a massive failure of epic proportions,” he said. “To know the storm was coming and then to leave, and not rush back. Leadership matters and the first thing is to be present," he furthered.