If forest fires spread Across Southern California this week, President-elect Donald Trump cast blame on state leaders and called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to resign in a series of Truth Social posts.
Trump accused Newsom of prioritizing environmental policy over public safety, claiming FEMA lacked the resources to respond to the crisis. CBS News Confirmed investigated some of the claims. Here’s what we know.
Newsom disputes Trump’s claim of a water restoration declaration
Trump claimed Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration” that he said would have diverted millions of gallons of water to areas now on fire, claiming he was prioritizing a small fish, a so-called smelt, over residents.
In response, Newsom’s office said, “There is no such document as the water restoration statement — that is pure fiction.”
Trump appeared to be referring to his administration’s 2019 proposal to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Central Valley farms and urban areas in Southern California.
California officials and environmentalists successfully filed a lawsuit to challenge the regulation in part, claiming the rules would endanger Delta wildlife, including the smelt fish.
In December, President Biden’s administration, working with Newsom, approved new rules that they say will allow more water from the Delta to be drawn into Southern California while protecting local wildlife.
An official who oversees water supplies in Southern California refuted Trump’s claim that his proposed changes could have mitigated the wildfires.
Mark Gold, water scarcity director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and a member of the Metropolitan Water District Board that provides water to 19 million people in Southern California, told CBS News: “The problems have nothing to do with the amount of water we have stored . within the region, the Metropolitan Water District currently has a record amount of water stored.”
Southern California has an adequate water supply after previous years of decent rainfall, Gold said, but the region’s lack of rain in recent months dried out vegetation — something Trump’s proposal would not have helped.
“What happened has nothing to do with the protection of the Bay Delta and how the water is managed there,” Gold said.
Trump says there is no water in the hydrants
In several social media posts this week, Trump referred to “no water in the fire hydrants.”
Officials in Los Angeles faced fierce criticism Tuesday into Wednesday after some fire hydrants in parts of Pacific Palisades went dry overnight.
Janisse Quiñones, general manager and chief engineer of the LA Department of Water and Power, said at a news conference Wednesday that all three 1-million-gallon water tanks in the area were dry at 3 a.m., reducing water pressure for fire hydrants at higher temperatures decreased. increases.
Quiñones said the tanks, which provide pressure for fire hydrants in the hilly Palisades, could not be filled quickly enough because firefighting operations were draining water faster than the main could supply it.
Capt. Erik Scott of the LA Fire Department said the LADWP proactively filled all available water storage tanks before the fires started. It followed a number of widely shared claims on social media that officials had refused or failed to fill the tanks.
Mark Pastrella, director of the LA County Department of Public Works, said municipal water systems for the affected areas were overloaded, in part because firefighters were unable to use air support due to high winds and poor visibility.
“The municipal water systems that serve our homes and businesses continue to operate effectively. However, they are not designed to fight forest fires. A fire fight with multiple hydrants, removing water from the system for hours, is not sustainable. This is a known fact. Pastrella said.
In a statement, Newsom said he was calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and “the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.”
The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 35-million-gallon water source near the Pacific Palisades, was out of service for repairs when a fire ripped through the Los Angeles neighborhood this week, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Trump Claims There’s “No Money in FEMA”
Trump also criticized President Biden in a social media post, claiming the current administration is leaving him “no money in FEMA.”
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund dwindled rapidly last October after Hurricane Helene and a series of major disasters, but Mr. Biden signed a bill in December that added $29 billion to the fund.
On Wednesday, the agency told CNN that about $27 billion remained in the Disaster Relief Fund. CBS News has reached out to confirm the current balance.
In a statement, the White House said FEMA has approved grants for fire management Reimburse California for firefighting costs.
