President-elect Donald Trump is calling out California Governor Gavin Newsom for the devastating wildfires hitting the state. In a new Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump claimed that Newsom’s approach to water management and environmental policies played a big role in the current disaster.
“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump said in the post.
He went on to say that Newsom was more focused on saving the Delta smelt, a little fish, instead of looking out for the people of California. “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. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster,” Trump concluded.
As we previously reported, the fire expanded rapidly yesterday (Tuesday) doubling in size within just an hour, leading officials to issue evacuation alerts for parts of the coastal neighborhood. They urged residents who might need more time to get out to “leave now.” The blaze ignited near 1190 North Piedra Morada Dr., with the Los Angeles Fire Department reporting it at around 10:30 a.m., initially estimating it at 20 acres.
By 11:30 a.m., Cal Fire had upped the estimate to 200 acres. Just around noon, they started rolling out mandatory evacuation orders for homes in the area, along with some additional evacuation warnings for nearby neighborhoods.
Several areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including where the fire broke out, are under a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning this week. This alert is pretty uncommon and is only issued by the National Weather Service during more severe conditions. It’s the same type of warning that was put out right before the Mountain Fire devastated nearly 20,000 acres late last year.
This week, Cal Fire has been ramping up resources as the region braces for some serious Santa Ana winds that can really amp up and spread wildfires. Forecasters are warning of gusts hitting around 60 to 70 mph in many spots, and even up to 100 mph in some areas.
“This will likely be a life-threatening, destructive, and widespread windstorm,” the National Weather Service cautioned on Tuesday. They noted that the “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning will be in effect from noon Tuesday until 4 p.m. Wednesday for parts of LA and Ventura, including Malibu.
