Wildfires Decimate Los Angeles, Criticism Engulfs State Leaders

Your weekly News Memo - a more human way to engage with the news...and life.

+ GetSmart: Sweden’s coffee break tradition is a strict protocol.

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Newsbites

Greenland: President-elect Trump has again raised the idea of buying Greenland, echoing comments he made during his first term in office. The largest island in the world, Greenland has a population of less than 60,000 people and is an autonomous territory of Denmark. While it is largely covered in ice, the island has abundant natural resources and precious metals. It is also located in a strategic area for global shipping routes.

More: Trump also said his administration will aim to take back the Panama Canal and will change the name of “The Gulf of Mexico” to “The Gulf of America.” (video)

A massive snowball fight broke out outside the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 as Congress certified the presidential election results. (video)

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Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as Prime Minister this week, signaling the end of his nearly 10-year run as the leader of Canada. Since the pandemic, Trudeau’s approval rating has plummeted over growing frustration with the cost of living, immigration policy, and crime. While Trudeau will appoint a PM in the interim, Canada must hold national elections sometime before October 20 of this year. Currently, the Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, holds a wide lead in the polls and is expected to become the next Prime Minister.

More: In addition to its domestic problems, Canada faces a key international challenge as Trump has pledged the U.S. will impose steep tariffs against its neighbor.

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Insurance trouble in California: Home insurers have increasingly been leaving California or reducing coverage over the past few years due to the prevalence of wildfires, along with restrictive policies that cap premium increases. This has made it difficult for insurers to make a profit. For homeowners, it has meant higher premiums, insurance policies without wildfire coverage, or no coverage at all. The LA wildfires this week will complicate and worsen the situation. (Main story below)

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President Carter funeral: Barack Obama, the Trumps, Clintons, Bush’s, and Kamala Harris all sat together at the funeral for President Jimmy Carter on Thursday (video). Carter died at the age of 100. His funeral was held at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Georgia.

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Chart of the week: The countries that produce the most oil in the world

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Wildfires Decimate Los Angeles, Criticism Engulfs State Leaders

“There was so much chaos, it was like an inferno, every house was on fire.” - Actor James Woods

Apocalyptic scenes of destruction descended on one of the most famous cities in America this week. More than 30,000 acres in LA have gone up in flames across prominent neighborhoods such as Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica among others. (map) As of now, 10 people have died, although that number is expected to rise.

• Video of beach-front Malibu homes destroyed.

• A massive smoke and fire wall is seen across an LA bay.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were instructed to leave their homes over the last few days. The fires, which after more than three days still have virtually no containment, have ripped through mansions and neighborhoods, fueled by winds sometimes reaching 100 mph. The conditions have prevented crews from using helicopters and other aerial craft to fight the fires, which are the most effective means.

No specific cause has been attributed to the start of the fires from authorities at this point. The only thing that we know is that the high winds spread the first flames with speed and power.

• Cal Fire website provides real-time stats on the fires.

To date, At least 200,000 people are without power and more than 10,000 structures have been blazened. (see aftermath video here)

Arsonists add to the havoc
In addition to the chaos of the fires, some have seen arsonists across LA starting fires themselves. Scientist and podcast host Andrew Huberman, who lives in LA, posted a video on X saying, “people are lighting fires in otherwise non-burning urban areas of LA. Saw this happen first hand at 302 Pico in Santa Monica. Called it in & fire dept & police responded.”

The Palisade fires are expected to be one of the most costly fires of all time, as several of the areas burnt were home to wealthy people, including A-list Hollywood actors and celebrities.

• Anderson Cooper speaks with Gov. Newsom amid the fires.

• LA Mayor Karen Bass refuses to answer questions from a Sky News reporter.

President-elect Trump and other conservatives are blasting California leaders for their forest management policies that they say favor environmental practices over wildfire prevention. Some of these policies include limiting cleaning forest floors and not performing controlled burns and thinning to reduce fire spreading.

Multiple times in 2018, then-President Trump called California to “get their act together” on forest management and said the size and significant spread of the fires could be prevented. (video)

Trump wrote in 2019: "The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers."

Here are three particular criticisms being raised about California’s management of wildfires:

• 1. Forest management: California has stricter regulations on forest ground cleanup and controlled burns from the Environmental Quality Act. The act aims to protect wildlife, the natural environment and water quality. This means that several more aggressive forest management processes are not a possibility and makes wildfires less manageable.

• 2. Water shortage: Instead of letting rain water flow from Canada throughout the whole of California, the state routes much of the water to the ocean because of environmental protections aimed to save certain species of “smelt” fish. Fire hydrants in key areas ran out of water for firefighters use. (Here’s a clip of Trump speaking about the water issue on Joe Rogan for 7 minutes just two months ago) (clip of firemen using water buckets to put out small section of fire)

• 3. Fire department budget cut: The mayor of LA, Karen Bass, cut the LA Fire Department budget by $17M last year in fierce opposition from the fire chief. It was the second largest cut in her 24-25 fiscal budget, which included $1.3B in funding for homelessness.

DEI initiatives a focus for LA fire chief
People online have also criticized the LA Fire Chief for the department’s focus on DEI initiatives. The fire chief is Krisin Crowley, who the website says is the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LA Fire Department. On the website, it says: “promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities are Chief Crowley’s priorities.”