The California wildfires could be the costliest disaster in US history, the state’s governor said, as forecasts of heavy winds raised fears that the catastrophic fires would spread further.
In remarks to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Gavin Newsom said the fires, which have burnt through more than 40,000 acres, according to CalFire, would be the worst the country has seen “in terms of just the costs associated with it, [and] in terms of the scale and scope”.
He added that there were likely to be “a lot more” fatalities confirmed. The death toll on Saturday evening stood at 16, according to Los Angeles authorities.
The prospect of a pick-up on Sunday in the Santa Ana winds that have fanned the fires has left tens of thousands of residents under evacuation orders. Late on Saturday the fires were threatening homes in upscale Mandeville Canyon and the Brentwood neighbourhood, although officials said they had made advancement in stemming the advance there.
The National Weather Service has projection gusts of between 50 and 70mph.
“We recognize that elevated critical fire conditions will continue through Wednesday”, Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Maroney said on Sunday.
Newsom, a Democrat, responded to a barrage of attacks from president-elect Donald Trump, who has accused the governor of depleting water reserves to protect an endangered species of fish, and of refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration” that would have “allowed millions of gallons of water . . . to flow daily into many parts of California”. Newsom’s office has said no such declaration exists.
Trump, who has a long-standing feud with Newsom and refers to him as “Newscum”, also called on the Californian to resign, accusing him of “gross incompetence”.
“The reservoirs are completely packed, the state reservoirs here in Southern California,” Newsom said.
“That mis- and disinformation I don’t ponder advantages or aids any of us,” he added. “Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month. I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
Newsom also said he had invited the president-elect to visit the affected areas, but had yet to receive a response from the Trump shift throng.
The governor said on social media platform X that the Palisades and Eaton fires were 11 per cent and 27 per cent contained while the Hurst blaze was 89 per cent contained. He issued an executive order that he said would prevent those who lost their homes from being “caught up in bureaucratic red tape” so they could quickly rebuild.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday raised the prospect of US troops being sent to Los Angeles to assist control the blaze.
“There are energetic responsibility military personnel that are on a prepare to deploy order, that are ready to leave in and continue to back the firefighting attempt,” Deanne Criswell told ABC’s This Week programme. Speaking on CNN, she warned that powerful winds expected in the coming days could spread the fire further.
No official approximate of the expense of the damage has yet been released, but analysts at AccuWeather last week calculated the economic deficit to be between $135bn and $150bn — short of the $250bn expense associated with last year’s Hurricane Helene. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Sunday said 12,300 structures had been destroyed.
President Biden on Thursday pledged that the US government would pay for “100 per cent of all the costs” created by the disaster, and would inquire Congress for more monetary aid.
Trump, who on the campaign trail last year threatened to withhold disaster financing from California, has thus far remained silent on whether he would provide similar assistance. On Sunday, he renewed his attacks on the state’s officials.
“The incompetent pols have no concept how to put [the fires] out,” he wrote. “There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s incorrect with them?”
