While the Pacific Palisades and Eaton wildfires that broke out on Jan. 7 have been 100% contained, the analysis of what went wrong in California has only just begun. As state and local police investigate the fires’ causes, some Los Angeles residents and California citizens have begun faulting political officials, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for not doing enough to prevent and mitigate the intensity of the fires.
Before the Pacific Palisades fire broke out, Newsom mobilized fire resources and fire prevention measures in response to the extreme fire weather warnings and wind advisory notice. These measures included pre-positioning firefighting tools and trucks as well as pre-deploying firefighting troops in areas that were deemed highly susceptible to the flames. Since then, Newsom has also deployed over 16,000 firefighters and enlisted over 2,500 members of the National Guard to aid in the response to the fires, according to Ca.gov.
Yet, according to the Karen Clark & Company (KCC), which works to assess catastrophe management, California has reached an estimated $250 billion worth in expected damage alone due to the fires. The loss of housing, businesses and wildlife has further called attention to the actions of Newsom and Bass prior to and during the fires.
Five days before the fires began, the National Weather Service sent a series of high wind warnings to Los Angeles residents. Two days after the initial warnings were announced, Bass departed for Ghana for the inauguration of Ghanaian president John Mahama on behalf of the Biden Administration. Bass did not return to Los Angeles until Jan. 8 and faced backlash for her absence during the onset of the fires.
Bass originally declined to comment on her decision to leave when asked by CBS News. But when CBS News correspondent Johnathon Viglotti asked about her overseas travel, she said that had she known of the severity of the fires, she would not have left.
Ava ’27 believes that Bass’ travels were ill-timed, but she is disappointed that the fires became a political issue because of it.
“I think her leaving was really poorly timed, and I think her actions following her return were not as impactful as they should have been,” Ava said. “That said, I hate how it became a debate over politics instead of a debate of how to properly handle the displaced families.”
In addition to Bass’ travels, she has also received criticism for cutting the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) budget by $17.6 million between the 2023-2024 and the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to CBS News. Even before the fires began in Los Angeles, CBS News reported that a department memo showed budget cuts were preventing the LAFD from responding to emergencies to the best of their ability.
In response to this controversy, some Los Angeles citizens have petitioned to remove Bass from office, particularly after Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that the city had failed her and that the LAFD was both understaffed and underfunded in an interview for Fox 11 News. Bass later met with Crowley and issued a statement calling for their partnership. Nonetheless, a current petition on Change.org calling for Bass’s removal has garnered roughly 168,000 signatures as of Feb. 1. Across Los Angeles, citizens have taken photos of graffiti calling for her resignation and posted it to X, though much of it has been painted over.
Despite her physical absence from Los Angeles until Jan. 8, Bass was actively involved in decision-making for how to handle the Eaton and Palisades fires, getting in contact with safety officials regularly throughout the time it took her to return to LA.
“I was able to be on the phone [with emergency officials] the entire time of the flight,” Bass told reporters at a press conference.
Some Los Angeles residents, including those at Marlborough, have moved to defend Bass’ actions regarding the fire.
“On one hand, there was a lack of infrastructure, but during such a rare case like this where the winds were so high, there truly wasn’t that much that any individual could have done to prevent the fires,” Libby D. ’25 said.
President Donald Trump’s criticism of Newsom’s response to the fires has also sparked further national criticism of the California politician. Trump blamed Newsom and Bass for their responses preparing for the fires. On Jan. 24, Trump visited the wreckage in the Pacific Palisades without alerting Newsom of his intentions to visit beforehand. During his visit, he continued to reprimand leadership and also threatened to withhold federal wildfire aid.
When asked about her thoughts on Newsom’s administration and leadership during the initial outbreak of the fires, Marlborough student Lucia ’27 said Angelenos should focus more on helping the community than on political mistakes.
“The fires are obviously a devastating tragedy that have impacted so many people in the Marlborough community,” Lucia said. “I don’t know that much about policy and what [Newsom] should have done differently, but I think that the [Los Angeles] community should be focusing more on how we can help other people in our community rather than trying to point fingers.”
