U.S. President Donald Trump headed to California on Friday as firefighters in the Los Angeles area continue to confront multiple blazes amid high winds and dry conditions.
Trump has criticized California leaders for water policies that he says have exacerbated the recent wildfires. He said he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow.”
California’s governor has rejected the president’s assertion, and other state legislators also have blamed the fierce wildfires for placing extreme demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes.
Before visiting California, Trump first visited North Carolina, where he will be briefed on monthslong recovery efforts for the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
In California, Trump is expected to visit the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that has been devastated by wildfires, leaving rows of homes in ashes.
The Palisades Fire is currently 77% contained and has burned through nearly 9,500 hectares of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Trump, a Republican, has broached using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing, or as leverage to push California to alter its water policies. The Republican president has a habit of mixing disaster response with politics and false claims.
“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” Representative Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, south of Los Angeles, said in a recent statement.
Trump has also suggested putting more responsibility on individual states to respond to disasters.
“I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” he said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News. “FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”
FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been responding to disasters in both California and North Carolina.
Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump has been “misinformed” about the agency, and he took exception with what he characterized as Trump’s inclination to play politics with disaster relief.
Ahead of Trump’s visit to Southern California, firefighters continued to fight multiple fires in the Los Angeles region.
The second-largest fire, known as the Eaton Fire, is now 95% contained after burning through more than 5,600 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.
The Hughes Fire in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles near Castaic Lake started Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for more than 50,000 people. Health advisories for smoke and windblown dust and ash have been issued for surrounding areas.
"Smoke and ash can harm everyone, even those who are healthy," Dr. Muntu Davis, L.A. County’s health officer, said in a statement.
Firefighters received help fighting the Hughes Fire overnight with aerial water drops from helicopters. The fire is now 56% contained and has burned more than 4,200 hectares of land, according to the Cal Fire.
The Laguna Fire in Ventura County resulted in evacuation orders for California State University Channel Islands and University Glen, but the orders were downgraded to warnings Thursday afternoon.
That fire is 70% contained after charring nearly 40 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.
The U.S. Storm Prediction Center said Thursday the "very gusty" offshore Santa Ana winds will continue in southern California with gusts that could reach as high at 105 kph in some mountain ranges.
The winds, combined with Southern California’s "very low humidity and dry antecedent conditions," prompted the center to continue a critical risk of fire weather alert for Thursday and an elevated fire weather outlook for Friday.
There is a chance for some relief in the coming days. The National Weather Service said rain is expected in the area beginning Saturday.
Forecasters expect up to a centimeter of rain across much of the Los Angeles area, while localized thunderstorms could bring even more rain in limited locations. The potential for those storms has prompted concerns about the possibility of mudslides, with debris flowing down hilly areas that have been scorched by several weeks of wildfires.
The fires that broke out in Southern California on Jan. 7 have killed at least 28 people and destroyed an estimated 16,000 buildings. The death toll is expected to climb as emergency workers comb through the ashes.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that mortgage relief will be available to the owners of property damaged or destroyed in the fires.
Nearly 300 state-chartered banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders and servicers have committed to the 90-day forbearance of mortgage payments.
"We’re working closely with Governor Newsom’s office ... to ensure Southern Californians can focus on rebuilding their lives without the added burden of financial worries," Scott Simpson, president and CEO of California & Nevada Credit Union Leagues.
The forbearance, Newsom said, "helps provide survivors with the time and relief to address their immediate needs, rather than worrying about paying mortgage bills."
Other relief will be available, the governor’s office said in a statement, but did not give further details.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
