President Joe Biden said he was increasing federal assistance to California as the state deals with raging wildfires that have ravaged communities and that he had urged Governor Gavin Newsom to spare no expense in combating the deadly flames.
“The devastation out there is catastrophic,” Biden said Thursday as he and Vice President Kamala Harris received a briefing from administration officials on the fires in the Los Angeles area and sought to assure residents of the response to a disaster that has challenged their administration in its final days.
The president said he had increased the federal funding to cover 100% of costs for 180 days and that he was surging all possible US government resources to help the region, including 400 additional federal firefighters and over 30 firefighting helicopters and planes. The Department of Defense has also authorized 500 wildfire ground clearing personnel, he added.
Biden also thanked Canada, saying the allied nation had secured additional firefighters and fire-fighting equipment.
The blazes have killed at least five people and put almost 180,000 under evacuation orders as the Los Angeles region grapples with its worst natural disaster in decades. Over 29,000 acres have been charred and the two biggest fires are uncontrolled.
Strong hurricane-like winds in recent days have fanned the flames, decimating neighborhoods in Pasadena and coastal Pacific Palisades. The wildfires are poised to become among the most costly in US history, with insurers potentially incurring losses of over $20 billion, according to analysts at
JPMorgan Chase & Co. The blazes are likely to cause between $52 billion to $57 billion in damages and economic loss, according to a preliminary estimate by
AccuWeather Inc.
“We’re going to keep at it. We’re sticking with this,” Biden said, even as he acknowledged the following days would be critical.
“We expect there may be a temporary break in the winds, but in some areas, the winds are likely to continue well in the next week, and so we’re going to continue to spend everything, literally every resource we can find that’s appropriate to help the governor and the first responders.”
Harris, who was born in the state and has a home in Brentwood — a west Los Angeles enclave — with her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, called the situation in southern California “apocalyptic.”
The vice president highlighted the uncertainty facing first responders as they deal with the weather conditions.
“We are literally waiting to see which way the wind blows,” Harris said.
The president was in Los Angeles earlier this week to mark the declaration of two new national monuments and attend the birth of his great grandchild but was forced to cancel an event focused on the monuments because of the weather conditions. He also scrapped plans he had to leave Thursday for Rome and Vatican City, on what was his last planned trip abroad as president, to focus on directing the federal response.
On Wednesday, Biden visited a fire station in Santa Monica, California, alongside Newsom.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is awaiting his inauguration on Jan. 20, has criticized both Newsom and Biden for the disaster, seizing on issues firefighters have faced with water pressure as they battle the large Palisades fire.
“Now the ultimate price is being paid,” Trump wrote, calling the fires a “true disaster.”
