XPost: alt.los-angeles, alt.wildland.firefighting, alt.politics.democrats XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.misc

Firefighters continue to battle wildfires that broke out Tuesday in
Southern California as more than 100,000 residents remain under evacuation orders.

To date, the fires have killed at least 24 people and destroyed 12,000 structures. Powerful Santa Ana winds, which have come on the heels of an unusually dry season, show no signs of letting up — and officials are
bracing for more fire threats through the week.

The largest of the three active fires in Los Angeles County is the
Palisades Fire, which grew to more than 23,000 acres and was 13% contained
as of Sunday evening. Federal officials are looking into whether the fire
could have originated from a fire that began New Year’s Eve.

Several dozen miles northeast is the deadly Eaton Fire, where
investigators are scrutinizing an electrical transmission tower as a
possible reason behind the blaze. And officials from the Southern
California Edison utility company are investigating if downed equipment is responsible for the Hurst Fire.

On Sunday Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to suspend
requirements from the state’s hallmark environmental law in order to
rebuild homes and businesses in the affected region faster. AccuWeather estimates that damages and the economic hit to the regional economy is now
at least $250 billion.

The state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said the fires are
expected to “complicate an already complicated market,” and has banned insurance companies from canceling or rejecting renewals on policies for
one year.

Republican state lawmakers are urging Newsom to call a special session
focused on wildfires and the state’s insurance market crisis.

And after securing federal relief aid from the Biden administration, Gov. Newsom extended an invitation to President-elect Donald Trump Friday to
visit California and survey the damage, write CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff
and Yue Stella Yu.

Trump has publicly slammed Newsom and the state’s water policies as part
of the blame for the fires. (Severe winds and an arid regional climate are
why the fires are so intense; sending more water from the state’s north
would not have helped.) Though Trump has yet to respond to Newsom’s offer,
he did take to social media to describe the officials handling the
wildfires as “incompetent.”

Learn more about Newsom, Trump and the L.A. wildfires from Alexei and
Stella’s story. And check out this visual essay from CalMatters’
contributing photographers, who captured the devastation first-hand.

https://calmatters.org/newsletter/los-angeles-fires/

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