California Gov. Gavin Newsom told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Saturday that the Los Angeles-area wildfires will be one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history and called for an independent investigation into the local water supply.
“I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope,” Newsom said when asked whether the disaster would be among the nation’s worst ever.
His remarks came after firefighters said some fire hydrants ran dry in the first several hours as they were battling flames across greater Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“Was it just overwhelm? That you had so much that was used, we drew it down? Was it pipes? Was it electricity? Was it a combination of pipes, electricities and pumps? Was that drawdown impossible because you lost seven-plus thousand structures right here anyway, and every single structure we lost had a pipe that was leaking, and we would’ve lost that water pressure anyway?” Newsom asked.
“Did it contribute in any way to our inability to fight the fire? Or were 99 mile-an-hour winds determinative and there was really no firefight that could’ve been more meaningful?” he continued asking.
On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump blamed Newsom and President Joe Biden for the lack of water in fire hydrants, writing on Truth Social, “NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!”
The president-elect also criticized Newsom for not signing on to a plan that would have diverted water from Northern California to Southern California during Trump’s first term. Experts have said the debate has nothing to do with the current wildfires, which were caused by a long period without rain and heavy winds.
Newsom “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,” the president-elect wrote in one Truth Social post.
Trump is “somehow connecting the delta smelt to this fire, which is inexcusable because it’s inaccurate. Also, incomprehensible to anyone that understands water policy in the state,” Newsom said Saturday.
He also blasted Trump for spreading other disinformation about the wildfires.
The president-elect last week also attacked Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, writing on Truth Social that “Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass.”
On Saturday, Newsom said, “I have absolute faith in our community. I have faith in our leaders. I have the faith of our capacity to work together,” when asked whether he has faith in Bass, who was absent from Los Angeles when the wildfires broke out as she returned home from a trip to Ghana.
Newsom also lauded Biden specifically, thanking him for issuing a major disaster declaration and allowing federal funds to flow to the state.
“I’m blessed on behalf of 40 million Americans that happen to live in California that Joe Biden is president of the United States and did what he did immediately,” he said. “And to the extent that we can work with the same relationship and that same spirit with Donald Trump, I hope we can.”
Newsom also spoke about his plans for rebuilding the city in the aftermath of the fires, speaking specifically about Los Angeles’ role in hosting the 2028 Olympic Games.
“President of the United States, Donald Trump, to his credit, was helpful in getting the Olympics to the United States of America, to get it down here in L.A. We thank him for that. This is an opportunity for him to shine, for this country to shine, for California and this community to shine,” Newsom said.
Ahead of the Olympics, Newsom added, “we’re already organizing a ‘Marshall Plan.’ We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0, and we are making sure everyone’s included, not just the folks on the coast, people here that were ravaged by this disaster.”
“We’re already talking to city leaders. We’re already talking to civic leaders. We’re already talking to business leaders, with nonprofits. We’re talking to labor leaders. We’re starting to organize how we can put together a collection of individuals on philanthropy for recovery. How we can organize the region,” Newsom said.
