As flames continue to burn across southern California, celebrities and citizens alike are turning on their elected officials, demanding to know why more wasn’t done to prepare for the fires.

From The New York Post. Big Hollywood names have started to turn on Los Angeles’ Democratic leadership, including Mayor Karen Bass, over their botched response to the wildfires raging across the ritzy, celeb-filled Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas.

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Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar led the charge, criticizing the Democratic leadership on Instagram for failing to direct the tens of thousands of Southern California residents trying to flee as the fires burned un-contained Wednesday. …

The Palisades Fire has been ravaging the celebrity-dotted neighborhood since Tuesday, and has burned a horrifying 17,234 acres (27 square miles) over the past 36 hours. …

Actress Sara Foster also took to X to lament how Los Angeles residents pay exorbitant taxes but the state was still completely unprepared to take on such massive wildfires.

“Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish. Our fire department budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits,” she wrote.

The politically-active actress, who is the daughter of music mogul David Foster, called on Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom to resign, writing, “your far left policies have ruined our state. And also our party.”

Former “Dancing with the Stars” professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy also vented his frustrations over the state’s lack of preparedness, writing on social media Wednesday, “5th largest economy on the planet. Firefighters didn’t have enough water pressure to do their jobs?! Are you joking me?! The taxes we pay for 3rd world infrastructure is unbelievable?! Come on.” …

By Thursday morning, five fires — three of which were completely un-contained — were burning nearly 30,000 acres (47 square miles) in Los Angeles County. …

From The Epoch Times. As four massive fires engulf Los Angeles, critics are blaming the government for putting lives, homes, and businesses at risk.

Amid it all, Sam Digiovanna, chief at the Verdugo Fire Academy in Glendale, Calif., told The Epoch Times that more than 1,000 firefighters are doing their best “to stop the forward progress of this fire” and “get a containment line around it.”

“Our first priority is the protection of life, which means a lot of times we’re evacuating people and making sure people get out safely,” said Digiovanna, a former fire chief in Monrovia, part of Los Angeles County. …

The mayor said in an evening update on Jan. 8 that her office is doing its best to address the emergency and obtain state and federal assistance.

“Let me be clear – I am making sure that we leave no resource untapped. Firefighters are now on scene from across the state, and across the country. I spoke with the President and Governor earlier today and they assured me of full federal and state support.” Bass said.

“If you receive an evacuation order, leave immediately. If you receive a warning, get ready. Protect yourself, and each other. And don’t divert firefighters from our strategy. L.A. will rise and I am confident that we will rebuild. Make no mistake, Los Angeles will rebuild stronger than ever.”

Fire Hydrants Ran Dry

With so many fire engines deployed, the water tanks that supply the gravity-fed fire hydrants were drained down so low that there was not enough water pressure to fight fires in some areas.

“Unfortunately, due to the amount of fire trucks doing structure protection and tying into so many hydrants, we used that water up very quickly,” Digiovanna said. “The water system got low on us—on firefighters—so when they were out fighting the fire, there were times when they had very low water pressure. ” …

“We knew this Santa Ana wind event was coming. We even knew that it was going to be a very powerful Santa Ana wind event. We actually were preparing several days in advance for this by bringing in additional staffing, additional resources, and getting communities prepared for these wind events because we don’t know what to expect with these winds,” he said.

About 1,000 fire trucks were deployed—not enough to protect that many homes, and with such high winds, fire-fighting crews could not launch helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to fight the blaze, Digiovanna said. …

Fires ‘Absolutely Predicted’

Dr. Houman Hemmati, a fire evacuee whose Santa Monica home is in a high danger zone bordering the Pacific Palisades, told The Epoch Times his house “is threatened, but it hasn’t been lost, yet.”

Hemmati, a frequent medical and political commentator on Fox News, blames state and local government for the extent of damage caused by fires.

“This is not something that was unexpected. It’s something that was absolutely predicted that would happen at some point, that we would have a massive fire like this,” he said. …

Hemmati said that despite a massive fire in Malibu just a few weeks ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went to Ghana for the inauguration of a politician, and Gov. Gavin Newsom waited too long to relocate resources, instead holding a press conference about high-speed rail.

“My problem with both of them and with the entire system is that they have been absolutely negligent … because they’ve known that this is a very likely possibility, and despite that, chose to put their efforts into many, many other things,” Hemmati said. “That’s not leadership. That’s abandonment.”

Los Angeles Fire Budget Slashed

Meanwhile, some critics are citing the Los Angeles City Council’s $17.6 million cut to the fire department budget as cause for alarm.

The fire department budget reduction is the second-largest cut in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s 2024-25 fiscal year budget and Bass had initially proposed a $23 million cut, as reported by The New York Post.

Hemmati said he is concerned not enough of his tax money is going toward fire protection.

“We’re getting absolute incompetence and a government at the state and local level that makes public safety their absolute last priority over homelessness and woke social issues,” he said. …

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(Excerpts from The New York Post and The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Lord Jim – https://www.flickr.com/photos/lord-jim/4378408340/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84854822)