Posted on 01/12/2025 5:36:02 AM PST by Twotone
Fires have burned through 36,000 acres in Los Angeles County, destroyed or damaged over 10,000 buildings, displaced tens of thousands of residents, and claimed the lives of at least 10 people. By midday Friday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire protections indicated that only 3% of the Eaton fire, 35% of the Kenneth fire, 37% of the Hurst fire, and 8% of the Pacific Palisades fire had been contained.
While seemingly unstoppable, the Palisades fire, which began on Tuesday and has devoured homes, businesses, schools, and other structures alike, appears to have left the Palisades Village, an outdoor mall developed by Rick Caruso, largely untouched, reported SF Gate.
It appears the mall may have survived because Caruso, the former president of the Department of Water and Power who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2022, did not leave the structure's fate up to the city, whose mayor, Karen Bass, has been gallivanting around Africa and whose fire department recently had its budget cut while prioritizing diversity over quality.
According to the New York Times, Caruso had a team of private firefighters deployed in the area Tuesday night to protect the mall, which he owns, as well as nearby houses.
While taking matters into his own hands appears to have paid off — the mall is, after all, still standing — Caruso told the Los Angeles Times that the Palisades Village, which opened in 2018, still suffered some damage.
Caruso criticized the city for dropping the ball on infrastructure, particularly on water supply.
Within hours of the fire's initial spread, the first two of three one-million gallon municipal storage tanks that supply water to the hydrants in Pacific Palisades and other communities were depleted. The third was reportedly drained by Wednesday morning.
"There's no water in the fire hydrants," said Caruso. "The firefighters are there [in the neighborhood], and there's nothing they can do — we've got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning. ... It should never happen."
L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park similarly blasted the water issues, stating Wednesday, "The chronic under-investment in the city of Los Angeles in our public infrastructure and our public safety partners was evident and on full display over the last 24 hours."
Janisse Quiñones, chief executive of the DWP, said that the three tanks above the Palisades "help with the pressure on the fire hydrants in the hills in the Palisades, and because we were pushing so much water in our trunk line, and so much water was being used. ... We were not able to fill the tanks fast enough."
"This is a window into a systemic problem of the city — not only of mismanagement, but our infrastructure is old," said Caruso."
"We have got a mayor that is out of the country, and we have got a city that is burning, and there is no resources to put out fires," the former mayoral candidate told KTTV-TV. "It looks like we're in a third-world country here."
Bass apparently thought it was a good idea several months ago to cut the budget for the city's fire department.
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia confirmed in October that Bass and the city council cut the LAFD's budget by $17.6 million for this fiscal year.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, told Fox News Digital Thursday, "The mayor wanted $23 million [cut], she got $17.8 million as I understand. But that's a sort of, really, I think a bad call, especially water and fire is exactly, you know, I see the end result of that devastation."
L.A. Fire Chief Kristen Crowley noted in a Dec. 17, 2024, report that "budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations, such as technology and communication infrastructure, payroll processing, training, fire prevention, and community education."
Probably the best thing he could do is “run” away. Until the woke LIB/Lefties there receive serious (and effective) mental health treatment nothing will change.
Goofy would beat Bass in an election now.
I bet a recall of Gavin would succeed as well
So much for apologists scolding critics with the line that the fires were inevitable under the conditions and no amount of preparation or assets could have prevented or stopped the fires.
But even surrounded by the out of control fires caused by others negligence, Caruso's property survived.
Why Did Newsom and Bass Make So Many Major Errors?
Evidence of gross mismanagement and incompetence
by Newsom and Bass has grown overwhelming.
<><>On Jan 2nd, eight days ago, the Ntl Weather Service urgently warned of extreme fire conditions.
<><>To drive it home, the LA office held a press briefing warning of impending catastrophe.
<><>Newsom and Bass should have called out the National Guard.
<><>They should have had planes and helicopters spotting fires, dousing them immediately.
<><>They should have issued emergency warnings to residents.
<><>they should have used various methods to spray water,
<><>they should have had mobile sprinkler units alongside normal firefighter hoses,
<><>they should have wet down vulnerable areas.
Instead, the following day, Karen Bass flew to Ghana
on a frivolous tax-paid junket mooching off taxpayers .
<><>Gavin Newsom could not care less
<><>this joker only called out the Ntl Guard a shocking seven days later.
Or one that is run by Democrats. Thankfully the LAFD is diversely staffed and the people in charge are inclusive of all out-of-the-norm lifestyles. No one feels discriminated against because of their sexual habits. In fact, they bear them with pride and always refer to everyone else by their proper pronouns.
California is far worse than any Third World county because those countries have no option .
The Democrats in California have taken tyrannical control of the most successful State in the world and willfully, deviously and cleverly run it into the ground.
They hate the America that once was and they are working to destroy it.
An outdoor mall surrounded by large parking lots might be easier to defend from fire than closely grouped houses on wooded mountainsides. Just speculating.
If he’s a White man, don’t bet on it. A lot of POC are very tribal when it comes to voting. Not only do they vote overwhelmingly democrat, but I’d there is a POC running they get their vote. Competency takes a very back seat to racial politics.
Bass will be the next Governor of California.
The last good LA mayor was the late Richard Riordan, a businessman and not a politician.
Fidel Newsom needs to be in a straight jacket inside a locked room under mental meds.
What good Isa store if there are no customers
An outdoor mall surrounded by large parking lots might be easier to defend from fire than closely grouped houses on wooded mountainsides. Just speculating.
Possibly, but most other similar structures in the area burned down.
Sometimes you get lucky but sometimes you make you own luck.
Same thing can be said for being unlucky as well.
And LA is getting about as unlucky as possible just now.
In fact, LA has become the world capitol of manufactured unluckiness
And Caruso’s property seems be an isolated island of manufactured luckiness in sea of California manufactured unluckiness.
The election was rigged.
Nothing will change until and unless the election is secure.
Carsuso was winning on election night.
His team took theirs eyes off the ball.
Weeks later-the marxists “counted” enough ballots to declare Bass the winner in a squeaker
Civilization is normally composed of citizens who can manage most anything themselves without any imposed leadership. What happened to people spontaneously meeting the emergency needs of their community? Americans in the past were never so dependent upon morons in high places. No chain of command? No personal motivation? No willingness to serve? No community cohesion?
What I see is a systematic failure of governance and leadership, from the top to the bottom. I see non-functional citizens. Now that reveals civilization collapse. Hunting for a scapegoat is just another way of expressing incompetence on a grand scale.
Exactly.
Stolen election.
Dems will do it again. That’s why they don’t care about this fire. They’ll get a bailout payoff money bag through some last minute budget deal in Washington.
Watch the press conferences and look at the glee on Mayor Bass’s face when she says they get to “rebuild” and remake the city.
Get rid of those mansions and put in some Section 8 housing. Drive out anyone that may oppose their Marxist mission.
Link for those tracking the fire:
https://www.frontlinewildfire.com/california-wildfire-map/
Nothing to do with Climate change.
I wonder if it’s feasible to run temporary lines to the ocean and use sea water to quell the fires. Difficult to believe the geniuses in LA haven’t come up with that.
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