Aerial view of Los Angeles. Photos that unfortunately go hard.

[noumoe]

Aerial view of Los Angeles. Photos that unfortunately go hard.



https://www.disclose.tv/id/xccjnrfmqo/

[noumoe]

The Pacific Palisades water reservoir in California sat empty for almost a year because it needed minor repairs. Why would it take from February through November to get a contract signed off for these repairs? It was expected to reopen in February.

Even though this water reservoir on its own would not have stopped the massive devastation, it would have helped a little. Incompetence.

Emptying of the reservoir began in February after a tear in the floating cover measuring several feet allowed debris, bird droppings and other objects to enter the water supply. State regulators ordered DWP to drain the site to avoid contamination.

DWP sought bids for the repair in April, at a cost of up to $89,000. In November, the utility signed off on a contract with a Lakeside firm for about $130,000, records show.

The status of the repairs is unclear. The DWP's employee union leader condemned the months-long wait to restore the reservoir.

https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... as-offline

[noumoe]

Gov. Newsom cut fire budget by $100M months before lethal California fires: report
California fire prevention took a hit the year before the fires, but the Newsom administration claims it boosted overall funding since assuming office in 2019
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gov-ne ... rnia-fires

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New fire breaks out in the Castaic area of Los Angeles county, spreading rapidly, officials say.

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President Trump will tour the decimated areas of the fire-ravaged Southern California — where wildfires killed at least 28 people — in one of his first presidential acts outside of Washington, DC.

Although not publicly invited by Trump, Newsom said he will be at the airport with the red carpet to welcome the newly sworn-in president.

“I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him,” he told reporters Thursday.

“There’s no limit to the resources we’ll provide for that briefing,” he added.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says her office has been in contact with the Trump administration regarding Friday’s trip despite the alleged radio silence between the White House and the State House, Fox LA reported.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/24/us-news/t ... in-newsom/

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Los Angeles County officials missed dozens of opportunities for water infrastructure improvements that experts say probably would have enabled firefighters to save more homes during the Palisades fire, public records show.

But thousands of pages of state, county and municipal records reviewed by The Times show the disaster was years in the making. Red tape, budget shortfalls and government inaction repeatedly stymied plans for water system improvements — including some that specifically cited the need to boost firefighting capacity.

https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... sades-fire

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Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned board members in writing two years ago that her department needed to create a pair of fully staffed crews dedicated to clearing brush and maintaining wildfire lines to bolster the part-time team it had, consisting of mostly young volunteers.

But despite her plea for funding, the City Council authorized only a fraction of it and hiring stalled, caught up in the red tape of L.A. bureaucracy, according to a new report.

While some residents have sued the government over alleged missteps that played a role in the expansion of the devastating wildfires this month, residents have little recourse beyond electing new city leadership, according to a local lawyer whose clients include homeowners looking elsewhere for relief after the fires leveled their communities.

“ It’s a political disaster and may result in Bass being recalled," Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based attorney who is representing multiple local clients in lawsuits in the aftermath of the destruction, said about Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. "But there is nothing that can be done legally."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles- ... ued-lawyer

[noumoe]

Trump Uses Emergency Powers to Send U.S. Military into California and Provide Water: “The Days of Putting a Fake Environmental Argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER.”

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential ... ain-areas/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/0 ... -send-u-s/

[noumoe]

California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) defended his administration’s decision to disband a wildfire team in early 2024 by denigrating the unit as "inadequately trained." Military records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show that Newsom’s administration gave the unit an award for "outstanding performance" that cited its exemplary "wildland firefighting training."

The Newsom administration shut down Team Blaze, a volunteer wildfire unit under Newsom’s command, in January 2024. The move rendered the California National Guard incapable of sending a complete firefighting detachment to fight the Los Angeles fires until 10 days after the flames broke out, the Free Beacon reported. In response to that report, Newsom’s press office on Jan. 24 disparaged the former firefighters of Team Blaze, calling the disbanded unit a "small, inadequately trained volunteer reserve component" that wasn’t fit to fight wildfires in California.

https://freebeacon.com/california/gavin ... rformance/

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Ric Grenell, President Donald Trump’s Envoy for Special Missions, slammed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s (D) fire “recovery czar” for his large three-month salary of $500,000 paid by charity groups.

Bass announced former L.A. police commissioner Steve Soboroff as the head of the rebuilding efforts following the devastating fires that destroyed homes and businesses and claimed at least 29 lives over a three-week period.

Soboroff will be “paid $500,000 over three months, with funding coming from charitable groups,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Real estate executive Randy Johnson, who worked with Soboroff in developing the ritzy Playa Vista neighborhood in the Westside area of L.A., will receive $250,000 from charity groups over the 90-day period as he helps with the recovery efforts.

Grenell, a longtime Trump ally, blasted the news on X:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025 ... offensive/

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Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday morning that she has officially removed Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley effective immediately.

Bass has appointed former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year-old LAFD veteran as interim fire chief.

"Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles' public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief," Bass said in a statement. "We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch.

Bass will hold a news conference Friday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ma ... ngNewsSerp

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Gov. Gavin Newsom late Friday sent a request to congressional leaders outlining nearly $40 billion in federal funding to cover the long-term recovery and rebuilding effort for last month’s devastating Los Angeles fires.

Driven by hurricane-force winds, the firestorms destroyed more than 16,000 structures in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena in what’s estimated to be the most expensive disaster in U.S. history.

In the 14-page letter, addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) of the Appropriations Committee, Newsom wrote that as the state continues to assess the damage while conducting active response and recovery efforts, officials expect to identify additional funding needs beyond the $39.68 billion he outlined Friday.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/2 ... d-00205600

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped into his emergency powers Saturday to roll back environmental regulations so that the state can speed up wildfire prevention projects, FINALLY including clearing flammable brush out of forests, following criticism from President Trump.

Newsom, 57, suspended the enforcement of regulations in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act and streamlined the process for government entities to clear up potential fuel for wildfires.

Newsom is said he is hoping to speed up wildfire prevention measures including building fire breaks, removing vegetation and trees from high risk areas and executing controlled burns to pre-empt wildfires and deprive them of fuel.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/02/us-news/g ... -policies/

[noumoe]

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' aides were all warned about the prospect of wildfires before she jetted off to Ghana on a heavily-criticized trip.

Over a dozen of Bass' aides received an email from LA's Emergency Management Department on January 3 that warned about a 'high confidence in damaging winds and elevated fire conditions occurring next week,' per the Los Angeles Times.

But Bass was never informed about the email, and still went on the trip the next day, staying for the new Ghanaian president's inauguration and a cocktail party at the US embassy on January 7 - the same day the dystopian wildfires broke out.

Critics say new evidence of what Bass' team knew before the fires began suggest the mayor is trying to deceive voters and distract attention from the appalling failings of her own office.

City councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who supports former fire chief Crowley said: '(Bass) keeps saying, "I wouldn’t have left had I known." But her staff did know.

'This verifies that her staff was notified of the potential threat by EMD, whose responsibility it is to let us know of these potential weather events.'

A committee comprised mainly of Republicans is now fundraising for a recall election, which could see Bass fired from office.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... 0&ito=1490

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The city of Los Angeles has issued just four rebuilding permits in the Pacific Palisades 75 days after a fire devastated most of the coastal community, highlighting the city’s struggle with providing basic government services.

After the city dedicated significant resources to tearing down a 20-year-old family treehouse earlier this month over permitting disagreements, many individuals highlighted their struggles with obtaining permits for building even simple structures.

According to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, only four permits have been issued for rebuilding thus far after a fire destroyed 6,000 structures and leveled much of the community.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/c ... er-75-days

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A group of a dozen residents of Pacific Palisades and Malibu are suing Los Angeles, and specifically the L.A. Department of Water and Power (LADWP), for negligence in the recent wildfires that destroyed their homes.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir atop the Palisades, which is managed by LADWP and which holds up to 117 million gallons, was nearly empty at the start of the wildfire season.

That, the residents say, caused their homes to be lost from a fire that could have been mitigated if hydrants had not lost water pressure and if city authorities had prepared properly in advance of a known fire risk.

The plaintiffs include a Holocaust survivor and a retired Navy pilot, whose stories are part of the complaint.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025 ... reservoir/

[noumoe]

A group of California homeowners is taking on insurance companies that they say illegally coordinated to deny coverage to fire-prone areas, leaving thousands of displaced residents drastically underinsured as they fight for funding to rebuild.

The homeowners, many of whom were affected by the recent wildfires that torched large swaths of Los Angeles, have filed a lawsuit alleging that California insurance companies colluded in a “nefarious conspiracy” to shut out high-risk homeowners from the insurance market.

The complaint, filed Friday in Los Angeles County, accuses dozens of major insurance companies and their subsidiaries of collaborating in a “group boycott” of certain areas to eliminate competition and force homeowners toward the state’s insurer of last resort, a program known as the California FAIR Plan.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/busine ... rcna202218

[noumoe]

The Concert to raise money for LA Fire victims raised $100 million… ZERO Dollars went directly to Victims

• 23 days after the fires started, the FireAid benefit concert collected $100M
—— FireAid said 100% of the Proceeds will go towards Fire-relief & prevention.

NONE of it went to victims…

• Where did the money go??
—— It ALL went to Non-Profits.

• What kind of Non-Profits?
—— a non profit that cleans pre-school bathrooms
—— The California Native Vote Project
—— the Pasadena NAACP also got money
—— They also sent $3.3 MILLION to Musicians, in the Sweet Relief Musician’s fund, the Music Health Alliance, and the Black Music Action Coalition
—— Podcasters also got paid too… one of the podcasts only got 7 views…

• only $1 Million went to the LA Fire Department foundation

This is who participated in that concert that straight up ROBBED people:

Celebrities:
- Billy Crystal
- Quinta Brunson

Musicians:
- Alanis Morissette
- Anderson Paak
- Billie Eilish
- Billie Armstrong (Green Day)
- Dave Grohl (Nirvana)
- Dave Matthews
- Dawes
- Dr. Dre
- Earth, Wind & Fire
- Finneas O'Connell
- Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- Gracie Abrams
- Graham Nash
- Green Day
- Gwen Stefani (No Doubt)
- Jelly Roll
- Joan Jett
- John Fogerty
- John Mayer
- Joni Mitchell
- Katy Perry
- Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)
- Krist Novoselic (Nirvana)
- Lady Gaga
- Lil Baby
- Mike Campbell (The Heartbreakers)
- No Doubt
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Pink
- Peso Pluma
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Rod Stewart
- Sheila E
- Slash
- St. Vincent
- Stephen Stills
- Stevie Nicks
- Stevie Wonder
- Sting
- Tate McRae
- Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes)
- The Black Crowes
- Violet Grohl
- U2
- Eagles

https://rumble.com/v6wk1mi-the-concert- ... -doll.html

[noumoe]

It’s time for FBIDirectorKash
to open an investigation into FireAidLA they raised $100,000,000 and residents say no one has been helped.

[noumoe]

It has been reported that of the tens of millions in Fire Aid money distributed so far since the January benefit concerts for Los Angeles’ wildfire victims, all has gone to nonprofits, not directly to residents impacted.

It has been reported that of the tens of millions in Fire Aid money distributed so far since the January benefit concerts for Los Angeles’ wildfire victims, all has gone to nonprofits, not directly to residents impacted.

Sue Pasco, the editor at Circling the News who also lost her home in the Palisades fire, spoke with Fox 11 on the discovery. She said that a reader had sent her a message saying, "I’ve never seen any Fire Aid money. How do I apply for Fire Aid money?"

What she discovered was that the initial $50 million given in the first round of distributing the $100 million raised at the benefit concerts went to 120 nonprofits.

[noumoe]

[noumoe]

Eight months after California's deadliest wildfire in the Pacific Palisades—claiming 12 lives, razing 7,000 structures, and causing $18-20 billion in insured losses—new documents reveal significant failures by state and local officials that worsened the disaster.

Key issues highlighted in internal records obtained by victims' attorneys:

Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's predeployment of hand crews and 110 fire trucks to Southern California, none were dispatched to Pacific Palisades, even after a brush fire there just five days prior.
The Santa Ynez reservoir remained empty, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power failed to activate the Palisades reservoir as scheduled.
A technician tasked with shutting off power to a substation arrived hours late and couldn't complete the job due to encroaching flames; three weeks later, records show he altered his log entry, shifting the arrival time from 6 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.—a 5.5-hour discrepancy.
Eyewitness Michel Valentine called 911 at the fire's onset but received no response or aid.

Attorney Roger Behle, representing over 3,000 victims, calls these "massive failures."

https://www.newsnationnow.com/investiga ... -response/

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https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrum ... 9860494912

[noumoe]

Fire Rebuilding Official in Malibu, California Resigns in Frustration Over Slow Pace of Reconstruction and Lack of Permits (VIDEO)

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/1 ... tion-slow/