LA Mayor Karen Bass’s shocking response in new car crash interview as she faces recall over fires disaster
Embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing fresh calls to resign or lose her job after batting away questions about whether she regrets traveling abroad despite warnings of extreme weather.
Bass was in Ghana last week on a diplomatic trip when the first fire broke out in the upscale celebrity enclave of Pacific Palisades and quickly spread to Malibu and then Santa Monica.
Hours later, a second massive fire broke out inland near Pasadena, and both are still raging a week later. This fire claimed at least 24 lives, destroyed an estimated 12,300 structures and destroyed 40,000 hectares of land.
More than 200,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate and thousands remain trapped in shelters, unable to return home as authorities begin the arduous task of searching the ash and rubble for human remains.
It soon emerged that Bass was aware of the increased weather risk before traveling abroad. Forecasters have been sounding the alarm about a ‘recipe for fire’ since Thursday – two days before her departure.
When asked Tuesday whether, in retrospect, she “would have made that trip abroad,” Bass stumbled over an answer before dismissively admitting, “no.”
“You know, I’m going to concentrate today…”
As she gave her answer without asking the question, the CBS journalist interrupted her with the question, “But please…”
“No,” she said sharply, before turning and walking away from the cameras as reporters rushed to ask more questions.
Hibbs also directed his ire at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was traveling to Ghana when the fires broke out.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Tuesday as the fast-moving fire quickly approached
Bass was in Ghana on Tuesday on a diplomatic trip when the first fire broke out in the posh celebrity enclave Pacific Palisades (pictured) and quickly spread to Malibu and then Santa Monica.
The criticism Bass has received goes beyond the decisions she made as the fire threat loomed.
Her government has made decisions over the years that have left emergency services chronically underfunded.
LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told CNN, “Over the past three years, it has become clear to us that the fire department needs help.”
She added that she has highlighted how “understaffed, under-resourced and under-funded the LAFD is,” adding, “I have sounded the alarm that these additional cuts could be very devastating to our ability to meet the to provide public safety.”
Bass cut the L.A. Fire Department’s budget by $17.6 million in 2024 after backing out of $23 million in cuts, and officials ignored warnings about the threat of infernos.
After her latest response, voters are demanding that she be ‘recalled’.
“Remember this woman,” someone wrote on X.
“While Karen Bass was in Ghana, LA was on fire – her level of incompetence makes her unfit to lead; she should resign,” another added.
Altadena was reduced to rubble during the Eaton fire
Search and rescue workers are digging through the rubble left behind by the Eaton Fire
Others described her as “very incompetent” and “completely out of touch with the people of LA.”
Bass pledged upon her election that she would not travel abroad while in office, telling the New York Times, “Not only would I live here, of course, but I wouldn’t travel internationally.
“The only places I would go are DC, Sacramento, San Francisco and New York, relative to LA.”
It comes after dozens of A-listers, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sarah Foster, Dennis Quad and James Woods, took to social media to shame the LA mayor’s response to the infernos that have spread since Tuesday.
Sarah Michelle Gellar wrote on Instagram: ‘The city of LA, you want everyone to evacuate but you have a complete gridlock and not a single traffic cop on the road is helping.’
Khloe Kardashian said she “stands behind” Fire Chief Crowley and called Mayor Bass a “joke.”
Meanwhile, other outraged celebrities have criticized the mayor’s moves, with actress Sara Foster writing on X: ‘We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown and the undergrowth had not been cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish.
‘Our fire brigade budget has been cut by our mayor. But thank goodness drug addicts get their drug kits. RESIGN. Your far left policies have ruined our state. And also our party.’
A firefighter sprays water on a burning home in the Eaton Fire in Altadena
The Democrat, 57, has faced calls to resign over the devastating and incompetent response to the LA wildfires
Actor James Woods, who was forced to evacuate the inferno, also criticized the mayor, blaming her and California Governor Gavin Newsom for the fire.
‘This fire is not the result of ‘climate change’. It’s because liberal idiots like you elect liberal idiots like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. One doesn’t understand fire management and the other can’t fill the water tanks,” he wrote.
In less than a week, four fires around the nation’s second-largest city have scorched more than 100,000 acres, about three times the size of Manhattan.
The National Weather Service warned that the weather will be “particularly dangerous” on Tuesday, when wind gusts could reach 65 mph.
Large parts of Southern California are under this extreme fire danger warning through Wednesday, including the densely populated Thousand Oaks, Northridge and Simi Valley.
Two fires continue to burn largely unattended:
The scale of the destruction is unprecedented, with prime real estate stretching from Malibu to the Palisades and up to Santa Monica wiped off the map.
Miles Teller, Mel Gibson and Paris Hilton are among the A-list celebrities who lost their homes in the inferno.
The death toll is expected to rise as cadaver dogs gain access to the smoldering wreckage of entire neighborhoods that simply ‘no longer exist’
The Palisades Fire is only 17 percent contained and has destroyed 23,713 acres. So far, eight bodies have been found in the wreckage.
The Eaton Fire, which wiped out large portions of Pasadena and Altadena, destroyed less land than the Palisades Fire, but the human damage was far greater.
Sixteen bodies have already been found in the massacre. It is estimated that around 7,000 structures are gone, but the process of exploring what remains has been slow.
Mandy Moore’s home was among those charred beyond recognition by the 14,117-acre Eaton fire.
It is only 35 percent under control.
The death toll is likely to rise, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday. At least 20 people have been reported missing, he said.
Luna said he understands people are eager to return to their homes and neighborhoods to inspect the damage, but he asked for their patience. “There are people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors,” he said.
He lashed out at California Governor Gavin Newsom, pictured second from right, for laughing at one of the command centers
Bass isn’t the only Los Angeles official under intense scrutiny.
More than 100,000 people signed a petition calling on Governor Newsom to resign from office.
He has made a concerted effort to shift blame to other officials, including Bass, and insisted he did not know how the wildfires started.
Recently, Newsom was criticized for trying to raise donations for the victims through his own Super PAC.