[
]
LA Palisades Wildfire: The Palisades Fire on the coast of Los Angeles has now spread over 15,800 acres between Malibu and Santa Monica. At least five people have been killed while over 150,000 people remain under evacuation orders. According to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, the Palisades Fire is the largest fire in the county right now which has destroyed at least 1,000 structures so far.
Billionaire Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to share video footage of the devastation wreaked by the wildfire that is yet to be contained. One of the clips shared by Mr Musk showed the beachfront homes in Malibu completely ravaged by the fire as the city officials urged everyone to leave, even those not under evacuation orders.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2025
Another video shared by the Tesla boss showed the aftermath of the fire in one of the suburban areas in LA with cars, homes and trees completely charred.
A friend in LA just took this video pic.twitter.com/WJBWCHmCUs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2025
As the firefighters attempted to control the fire, President Joe Biden officially approved a major disaster declaration in the state on Wednesday, as per a White House statement — unlocking federal resources for survivors affected.
“Today, President Biden has approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, allowing survivors to immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery,” the White House said in a fact sheet outlining the federal response to the wildfires.
“Additionally, FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to reimburse California for firefighting costs last night.”
Also Read | Los Angeles Wildfire In Palisades: How Fierce Winds Sparked Devastation
Trump blames Newsom for fires
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has blamed California Governor, Gavin Newsom for the fires and blamed him for refusing a plan to send more water to the state’s agricultural Central Valley.
“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California,” Mr Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “Now the ultimate price is being paid.”
The Republican leader’s comments came in the backdrop of reports of several fire hydrants across Los Angeles County running out of water during the firefighting efforts. As per the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, the issue stems from an overwhelming demand on the city’s water system, which has not been designed to handle such heavy use for firefighting.
