The governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsom, sought to put aside the political dispute and asked the president-elect to approach the affected areas.
Amid the worrying progress of the fires in Los Angeleswhich they already burned 8,900 hectares and left a balance of at least 16 dead and 13 people missingthe elected president of United States, Donald Trumptargeted the local authorities for their handling of the situation and called them “incompetent.”
Through a harsh message on his social network Truth Social, the Republican crossed the authorities of California, a Democratic bastion currently governed by Gavin Newsom. “Fires continue to ravage Los Angeles. “The incompetent politicians have no idea how to turn them off,” he said.
In that sense, he stressed that “thousands of magnificent houses disappeared and many more will soon be lost.” At the moment, it is estimated that the fire left 12,000 structures destroyed and 180,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Furthermore, he pointed out that “there are deaths everywhere” and that “It is one of the worst catastrophes in the history” of the country. “They can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he questioned.
For his part, Newsom sought to tone down the political dispute and publicly asked Trump, who will assume the presidency in just a week, to interrupt their rivalry to appear in the state to observe the consequences of the fires and help combat the problem. However, the elected president has not yet responded.
Crisis in Los Angeles: desperate efforts to fight the fire
The fires that started 15 days ago in Los Angeles they give no respite and continue to hit the population of California. In the last few hours, the death toll increased to at least 16, according to county Sheriff Robert Luna, who also reported that 13 more people are missing and more than 12,000 structures were destroyed.
In any case, the number of victims could increase, since search teams, supported by sniffer dogsthey continue to inspect the devastated areas. To help families, a center was set up where can report the disappearance of loved ones.
The situation remains critical. Firefighters are working around the clock to extinguish the fires before the strong winds predicted for Monday reignite the flames. Michael Traum from the California Office of Emergency Services, He noted that weather conditions continue to be adverse.
Local authorities expressed concern about the possibility that the winds would direct the fire towards emblematic sites such as the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeleswhich redoubled efforts to contain the fires in the most critical areas. The California Department of Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported that by Saturday night, the Palisades fire had been 11% controlled and the Eaton fire was 15% controlled.
Source: Ambito
