LA mayor stares blankly into distance during questions on devastating fires

An awkward exchange between a reporter and Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, is going viral after the city representative appeared to refuse to speak on the fires that have caused devastation in the area.

Over 1,000 buildings have been charred, particularly in the Pacific Palisades community, with over 130,000 people now evacuated from their homes.

The cause of the fires is yet to be established, however, it's thought to have spread at an alarming rate due to 70mph Santa Ana winds from Tuesday (7 January), with 30,000 acres now destroyed.

Ms Bass, who has been mayor since 2022, was returning from her trip to Ghana when she was approached by Sky News correspondent David Blevins, and grilled on whether she owed the people of Los Angeles an apology for the handling of the situation.

However, she remained silent, and appeared stunned that she'd been asked.

"Do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, madam mayor?" he asked.

Still, no response from the 71-year-old.

"Have you nothing to say today? Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today?" Blevins chases again, to no avail.

Their exchange continues for two minutes, with Ms Bass refusing to utter a single word on the incident.

Despite alerts from the National Weather Service warning that conditions leant themselves to “rapid fire spread and extreme fire behaviour” back on Friday (3 January), by Saturday, she had left the country and gone to West Africa.

James Woods

She wasn't the only official tracked down either, with locals pressing California governor, Gavin Newsom, for answers in the street.

"I'm literally talking to the president right now", he told a woman who approached him pleading for help, insistent that he was trying to get phone signal amid the wreckage.

Concerns come after reports that last year, LA Fire Department had its funding cut by $17.6 million. Meanwhile, the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) had its funding increased by $126 million.

These cuts now leave the city vulnerable to being unable to handle fire incidents both now, and in the future.

Alongside locals, a number of well-known figures have lost their homes, including Paris Hilton, Mark Hamill, and Anna Faris.

Indy100 contacted the mayor's office for comment, to which they responded: "The Mayor has provided multiple public briefings to provide updates and resources on the devastating fires. Just today, President Biden announced that the federal government would pay for 100 per cent of the disaster response costs from wildfires in the area."

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