Charred and reeling from the ongoing massive wildfires, the Los Angeles community is what "hurts the most" from the reported $17 million that was cut from the fire department's budget, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn told Newsmax on Monday.
L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley spoke with CBS about the recent budget cuts and how they have hindered the department's response to the fires ravaging Southern California.
"Just hearing that clip, I put myself in the community's mindset, and there's just an incredible amount of frustration and that's really who hurts the most," Wilbourn said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "The fire department needs resources, and in California, we know we're subject to natural disasters. We have to invest in our first responders. The loser here is the community and that's just unfortunate because they are reaping those benefits, or the lack thereof, of improper allocation of resources."
Sacramento sent fire crews down to help battle the blazes in the southern part of the state, and Wilbourn described the situation in the L.A. area as "all gas and no break."
"Those crews have been fighting those blazes since they've gone down there," he said. "It's been described as a war zone. It's been described as apocalyptic. And they're continuing to work to not only locate new and additional fatalities, unfortunately, but also working to put those flames out, control those flames, and do what they can to support the community who has just been absolutely devastated."
Wilbourn said that containing the flames is a "significant challenge" because there are "three variables that are really posing problems" for firefighters.
"Topography is a big deal because you've got major canyons, areas where those fires can grow and rapidly expand out with incredible intensity," he said. "You've got those winds, those 60, 70 mile an hour gusts, that are just going to wreak havoc, throw embers upwards of a mile ahead of you, preheat all of the fuels and continue to burn at an even faster rate than normal. And the fuels are there. Those fuels are dried out with the additional winds from the Santa Ana. Those fuel moistures just dropped to almost nothing, and they're primed to burn. So, you've got fuels that go right into homes, right into neighborhoods. Those Santa Anas that are casting embers onto those rooftops, it's just creating the perfect storm."
Asked to comment on reports that the Pacific Palisades reservoir was empty when the fires broke out, Wilbourn said that there will be "a reevaluation period" once the inferno has been extinguished.
"At this time, the fire departments are all focused on mitigating this threat and making sure people are safe," he said. "They will go back after all this is done, and I can guarantee you they're going to find shortcomings of areas where they should have either been on top of it or could have done a better job to provide service to that community."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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