(The Center Square) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was not aware of pre-fire warnings that would have meant she should cancel her trip to Ghana as part of a Biden administration delegation to the new Ghanaian president’s inauguration.
“Although there were warnings – that I frankly wasn’t aware of – although there were warnings, I think our preparation wasn’t what it typically is,” said Bass in an interview with Fox 11. “Meaning that before there’s a major weather event, for example, last week, when we knew we were going to get into the rains, you saw us come together and us talk about the sandbags, bring the K-rails out.”
The day before the Palisades Fire started on Jan. 7, Bass issued a dire warning to LA residents, as reported earlier by The Center Square.
“There is an expected destructive and potentially life-threatening windstorm starting Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon,” said Bass. “Stay safe LA!”
Minutes after the Palisades fire started, Bass issued a long 47-bullet statement on the city’s preparedness measures. She urged Angelenos to stay safe and be ready for fires ahead of the “anticipated dangerous windstorm.”
When asked by Fox 11 about what she meant about not being aware, she suggested Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley downplayed fire risks and that lack of visible preparations such as the placement of barriers after the fire and before rains suggested low risk.
“What she said is we have warnings of Santa Ana winds a lot, but predicting this – we saw, from the city, the county – that level of preparation didn’t happen, so it didn’t reach that level to me, to say something terrible could happen and you shouldn’t have gone on that trip,” Bass said.
The mayor added investigations into the conduct of the city and county are forthcoming.
LAFD retorted that it did make major preparations and communicated risks through a large number of media interviews and notices to city officials.
“Prior to the Palisades Fire, the LAFD emailed two separate media advisories, conducted multiple live and recorded media interviews about the predicted extreme fire weather, and notified City Officials about the upcoming weather event,” LAFD wrote NBC 4.
Bass left for Ghana on Jan. 4, one day after the National Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch for the region due to 55-80 mph wind gusts, low humidities and very dry vegetation. She landed in Ghana on Jan. 5.
At 10:56 a.m. Jan. 7, Bass issued her statement on the city’s vast preparations. Perhaps unbeknownst to Bass’s office at the time, LAFD dispatched fire personnel 26 minutes earlier at 10:30 a.m. as the first reports of the Palisades Fire came flooding in.
“Parts of the Los Angeles region will potentially face one of the most significant wind storms in more than a decade, and I urge Angelenos to continue monitoring the storm and stay vigilant and safe,” said Bass in the statement. “Power outages as a result of downed power lines, increased fire risk and falling trees and debris should be expected during this time, and the impacts and dangers of a wind storm should be taken seriously as the City works to prepare for this event.”
Bass reportedly did not leave Ghana until 1 p.m., finally making it back to Los Angeles at 11 a.m. the next day after the fire had torn through much of the Palisades.