California governor’s response to Donald Trump

Entire sections of the second largest city in the United States are devastated: more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed and more than 15,000 hectares have gone up in smoke. “It made me think of a war scene, with bombings”said President Joe Biden. Progression of the fires, criticism of the governor of California by Donald Trump, cost of damage in billions of dollars… Le Figaro provides an update on the fires in the Los Angeles area.

Passing of arms between Trump and the governor

“I want him to go out there and see the magnitude of the situation and what has happened to the American people here in California.” In a video published Friday evening on X, the Democratic governor of California calls on Donald Trump to come and see the damage in Los Angeles. “This is an emergency. Let’s turn the page”he said again, referring to the harsh criticism expressed in recent days by the American president towards him.

Invested in the White House on January 20, he recently renamed Governor Gavin «Newscum», «scum» meaning “junk” in English. He accuses it of being partly responsible for the fires that have ravaged California since Tuesday. “One of the most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning. This is ash, and Gavin Newscum should resign. It’s all his fault!!! he wrote on his Truth Social network. Gavin Newsom deplored, on CNN, that Donald Trump is seeking to “politicize the situation”. “I’m not interested in that.”

Criticism of the authorities

Although it is too early to know the origin of the fires, criticism is aimed at the preparation and response of the authorities. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told Fox News affiliate KTTV that they were missing “always staff, resources and funds”. Californians are being urged by authorities to save water, as some reservoirs supplying fire hydrants have been emptied by the fight against flames.

Nicole Perri, whose house went up in smoke in Pacific Palisades, told AFP that authorities had “completely let down” the inhabitants. Across the Californian megacity, according to orders received, sometimes by mistake, evacuations number in the hundreds of thousands.

Donald Trump also claimed that California is running out of water because of Democratic environmental policies that would divert rainwater to protect a “useless fish”.

The fires are still spreading

The numerous fires that have raged in Los Angeles for five days, causing at least eleven deaths, spread on Saturday to areas hitherto spared, in turn targeted by evacuation instructions.

Faced with increasing looting in disaster-stricken or evacuated areas, a strict curfew, in force between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., was decreed Friday by the authorities in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena sectors, the most ravaged.

Despite the massive mobilization of firefighters, the progression of the fire triggered evacuation orders on the eastern flank of the Pacific Palisades sector, in an area where the Getty Center is located. Built in part with fire-resistant stones, the famous museum houses 125,000 works of art. The winds which began to weaken on Friday are expected to regain strength from Saturday, according to forecasts from the Federal Natural Disaster Response Agency (FEMA), further pushing back hopes of bringing the disaster under control.

Prince Harry among the victims

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, who broke ties with the British monarchy in 2020 and reside in California, came to comfort victims in the Pasadena district.

The main fire, among the five still active, burned more than 8,000 hectares on the coast of Malibu and the upscale district of Pacific Palisades, under control on Saturday morning at 8%, according to emergency services. Among those who saw their homes destroyed was actor Mel Gibson, whose Malibu home was gutted.

Cost more than 100 billion dollars

These fires could be the costliest on record: AccuWeather estimates total damages and losses at between $135 billion and $150 billion.