On the morning of January 7, a brush fire in the hills above Los Angeles quickly transformed into an inferno.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated, while hundreds of thousands were on pins and needles as they awaited the impending evacuation orders.
The first fire would come to be known as the Palisades Fire.
A few hours later the Eaton Fire would ignite in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Later in the night the Hurst Fire would erupt in the northern San Fernando Valley.
The following morning the Woodley Fire would emerge in the central San Fernando Valley.
And Los Angeles hadn’t seen the last of the fires yet.
Needless to say, numerous homes burned to the ground. Many people suffered injuries. And some individuals tragically lost their lives.
Two prominent leaders have dared to speak bluntly about the contributing causes of the calamity that occurred in Los Angeles: former LA mayoral candidate Rick Caruso and President-elect Donald Trump.
Caruso is a former commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He is also the owner of the Palisades Village Mall, located in the heart of the community that has been decimated by the wildfires.
Caruso’s daughter’s home was destroyed in the blaze, and he himself was evacuated from his home. As the flames were breaking out in his beloved neighborhood, he noticed something that defied comprehension. The fire hydrants were devoid of even a drop of water.
“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” Caruso exclaimed, his voice revealing his exasperation.
“This is a window into a systemic problem of the city,” he said.
“The real issue to me here is two-fold. We’ve had decades to remove the brush in these hills … and the second is, we’ve got to have water. My understanding is the reservoir was not refilled in time … to keep the hydrants going ...”
President elect Trump had previously warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom that he needed to better manage the state’s forests in order to prevent wildfires.
In 2018, then-President Trump chastised Newsom over the burned-out remains of the town of Paradise.
“You’ve got to take care of … the floors of the forests,” Trump said.
Two years later Trump spoke out again after a new round of fires had inflicted severe harm on California. He talked about cleaning the forest floors, removing leaves and fallen trees, and preventing the igniting of the brush and forest debris.
The president-elect recently used a post on X to comment on the current fires in Los Angeles.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he posted.
He also used his Truth Social account to wake up Gov. Newsom, writing, “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”
Angelinos are far from happy with their government leaders.
Despite fire warnings, Mayor Karen Bass flew to Africa to attend Ghana’s presidential inauguration on the day that the fire broke out; this after meteorologists warned that a “recipe for fire” was on track to strike LA.
LA city officials reportedly failed to cut off electricity to power lines. Video footage from the Palisades Fire showed sparks flying as power lines came down.
Officials in Los Angeles County had reportedly refused to refill reservoirs with the water that would ultimately be needed to flow to fire hydrants.
More information about the catastrophic failures of leadership will no doubt emerge in the coming days.
Out here in California, prayer is all we have. And yet it’s everything.
If your heart is able, please join in prayer for safety, solace, and strength for the people of the City of Angels.
May God’s blessings flow from the ashes.
“I will give them a crown to replace their ashes, and the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow, and clothes of praise to replace their spirit of sadness.” (Isaiah 61:3)
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.