Update on Los Angeles fires and finger-pointing – National & International News – FRI 10Jan2025

Update on LA fires and brewing political controversies.

Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in for third term despite election concerns.

NATIONAL NEWS

Update on LA fires and brewing political controversies 

Several fires are still burning in the suburbs around Los Angeles for a fourth day. Well over 36,000 acres have been burned, over 20,000 of which were in the Palisades fire alone. More than 10,000 structures have been burned, over half of them in the Palisades fire. Officials say at least 10 people are dead- five in the Eaton fire, two in the Palisades fire, and it is not clear where the other three victims perished. More than 153,000 people remain under evacuation orders.

The fierce Santa Ana winds that fueled the flames and encouraged them to spread rapidly have died down somewhat throughout the day, allowing firefighters to make some headway in containing the blazes. The Palisades fire is 8% contained, Eaton 3%, Kenneth 35%, Hurst 37%, and Lidia, one of the smallest fires, is 75% contained. Firefighters hope to make further progress over the weekend, but winds are expected to pick back up again on Monday.

Due to reports of looting, a 6:00 p.m. curfew is in force in the evacuation zones of all the various fires. 

Flame blame game

State and local authorities, particularly Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have been blamed for failures and policy decisions which left the city unprepared to combat the blazes. Bass, who was in Ghana when the fires broke out, seemed to freeze when confronted at an airport by a reporter on her return trip. Clips went viral of her staring blankly as a reporter asked about her decision to divert millions of dollars from the fire department, and whether she had anything to say to LA residents.

Early reporting seized on Bass’s proposed 2024-25 budget which would have called for a $23 million cut to the fire department. However, these cuts were not finalized. Closer analysis of city funding has revealed that in fact the overall operating budget grew by 7%. Still, cuts in some key personnel areas have hampered training, recruitment, and – crucially- fire prevention. Just weeks before the fires broke out, the LA fire chief warned that these cuts would diminish the department’s ability to respond to a large-scale emergency.

Moreover, the modest increase in overall fire department spending is notably dwarfed by the $126 million budget increase for the police department. Meanwhile, settlements paid out to citizens who have suffered abuse or injury at the hands of the police cost the city more than $100 million just in the first 6 months of fiscal year 2024.

Water failures

Another issue under scrutiny is the water supply, which failed abysmally, particularly in the Palisades fire. In several areas, fires were left to blaze out of control because when firefighters arrived on scene, there was no water pressure from hydrants to combat the flames. It’s not clear what caused the failure. It is possible that the fiery destruction of so many structures connected to the city water supply led to leaks which diminished water pressure. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for an investigation into the failure.

It is also not clear at this moment what sparked the fires. Lightning strikes are a common cause of wildfires, but no lightning had been reported in the area. That leaves the most likely causes as either intentional fire setting or power lines damaged by the high winds.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in for third term despite election concerns 

Back in July, Venezuela held a much-contested presidential election. Nicolas Maduro, the successor of Communist firebrand Hugo Chavez, claimed he had won a third six-year term with 51% of the vote. International foes of Maduro, most notably the United States, immediately cried foul. The US proclaimed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Maduro’s opponent, to be the winner but without any evidence to show that he had won. 

Venezuela’s courts, military, and election authorities have stood by Maduro. However, they did not release the usual breakdowns of results from Venezuela’s polling stations, fueling the allegations of tampering. 

Maduro was sworn in today and vowed to continue to oppose US hegemony in the region. The US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on high-ranking officials and business entities in the already very heavily sanctioned country. 

Yesterday, opposition leader Maria Machado came out of months of hiding to lead an anti-Maduro demonstration in Caracas. She was reportedly briefly detained as she was leaving the demonstration. She was released and says that she is now “In a safe place”.

Today, President Biden also moved to further extend the temporary protected status of 600,000 Venezuelan migrants who have claimed asylum in the US, along with about 230,000 Salvadorans. 

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