Donald Trump has revealed why he hasn’t visited Los Angeles, as one of the worst wildfire events in US history continues to tear through parts of the California city.
The incoming president has said he will ‘probably’ visit LA, adding that he hadn’t already because he ‘thought it would be better if I went as president’.
Several ongoing fires which broke out January 7 have killed at least 27 people while destroying more than 14,600 structures across densely-populated areas including Altadena in northern LA, and the ritzy Pacific Palisades enclave close to Malibu.
Residents have hit out at the city’s mayor Karen Bass for being away in Ghana when the fires broke out, despite ample warnings from meteorologists that the upcoming weather forecast amounted to a recipe for disaster.
President Joe Biden, 82, visited LA on January 8 as the fires ramped up. Local law enforcement and firefighters briefed him on the carnage and plans to contain the infernos as hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated.
Trump, 78, is yet to visit the scene, but he spoke with NBC News‘ Meet the Press over the phone about his plans to survey the carnage in the coming days.
When asked whether he would be visiting Los Angeles, Trump said: ‘I will be, probably, at the end of the week.
‘I was going to go, actually yesterday,’ he added. ‘But I thought it would be better if I went as president. It’s a little bit more appropriate, I suspect.’
Donald Trump has revealed why he hasn’t visited Los Angeles after one of the worst wildfire events in US history tore through the California city
The incoming president has said he will ‘probably’ visit LA, adding that he hadn’t already because he ‘thought it would be better if I went as president’. (Pictured: A fire fighting helicopter drops water on the Pacific Palisades as the infernos engulfed the area)
The carnage is far from over – LA residents are bracing for even more fire chaos this week as weather forecasters have warned the gusting Santa Ana winds of up to 100 miles per hour are set to return.
‘We anticipate another major event as the Santa Ana winds pick up this weekend bringing with them critical fire hazard danger,’ a California Met Office spokesman said.
‘Some areas could see winds gusts of 80mph and higher, possibly up to 100mph. We are in extreme fire danger. The winds are expected to start tonight (Sunday) and peak on Wednesday.’
There is no chance of desperately needed rainfall in the area which has seen hundreds of people lose their homes, including celebrities like Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal.
In all, the wildfires have consumed more than 40,500 acres across the most affluent neighborhoods of LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 14,602 structures wiped out.
Local fire departments have warned that harsher winds and more fire would prevent those under mandatory evacuation orders from returning home to assess the damage.
The Palisades Fire, which has so far razed more than 23,700 acres, is continuing to burn with only 52 percent of the inferno contained by midday on Sunday, according to the California Fire department.
In Altadena, the Eaton Fire has burned through more than 14,000 acres and was 81 percent contained as of midday on Sunday.
Two people have also been arrested for allegedly lighting fires in the county, including Ruben Montes, 29, who was detained for arson on Sunday in Irwindale, roughly 16 miles away from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.
Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was also taken into custody after allegedly being caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before he was confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
They spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot in apocalyptic scenes
Pictured: Fire engulfs a home as the Eaton Fire moves through Altadena, CA on Wednesday
Faults along the Los Angeles power grid alarmingly soared in the same areas where major wildfires raged, sparking theories that the faults could also have catalyzed the crisis.
Bob Marshall, the chief executive of Whisker Labs, a company that monitors electrical activity, told Fox News that the firm saw spikes in faults in the hours before the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst Fires.
Marshall said data shows the power was not immediately shut off after the faults surged, and may have been caused by ‘tree limbs touching wires or wires blowing in the wind and touching.’
‘That creates a spark in a fault, and we detect all of those things,’ Marshall said. Faulty electrical equipment, a sudden surge in electrical demand or earthquake tremors are also possible causes of the surges.
In the worst-hit Pacific Palisades area, there were 63 faults in the two-to-three hours before it ignited, with 18 coming in the hour before it started Tuesday.
The Eaton Fire, near Altadena, saw 317 grid faults in the hours before ignition, Marshall said, and the Hurst Fire saw around 230 faults. On a typical day, he said the company registers very few.
Although investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fires, the grid faults raise the possibility that sparks from the faults ignited dried out vegetation, with high winds then carrying embers across the region.
