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The California wildfires could be the costliest disaster in US history, the state’s governor said, as forecasts of strong winds raised fears the catastrophic blazes would spread further.
In comments on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Gavin Newsom said the fires, which have burned at least 22,000 acres, would be the worst the country has seen “in terms of the costs associated with it, (and) in terms of scale and scope”.
He added that there were likely to be “many more” confirmed deaths. The death toll Saturday night was 16, according to Los Angeles authorities.
The prospect of a pick-up Sunday in the Santa Ana winds that have fueled the fires has left tens of thousands of residents under evacuation orders. Late Saturday, fires were threatening homes in upscale Mandeville Canyon and the Brentwood neighborhood, although officials said they had made progress in containing their advance there.
The National Weather Service has predicted gusts between 50 and 70 mph.
Newsom, a Democrat, was responding to a barrage of attacks from President-elect Donald Trump, who has accused the governor of depleting water supplies to protect an endangered fish species and refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration.” that would have “allowed millions of gallons of water . . . to flow daily into many parts of California.” Newsom’s office has said no such statement exists.
Trump, who has a long-running feud with Newsom and refers to him as “Newscum,” also called on the Californian to resign, accusing him of “gross incompetence.”
“The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here in Southern California,” Newsom said.
“This misinformation and disinformation I don’t think is to the advantage or help of any of us,” he added. “Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month. I am very familiar with them. Any elected official they disagree with is very familiar with them.”
Newsom also said he had invited the president-elect to visit the affected areas, but had yet to hear back from the Trump transition team.
The governor said on the X social media platform that the Palisades and Eaton fires were 11 percent and 27 percent contained while the Hurst blaze was 89 percent contained. He issued an executive order that he said would prevent those who lost their homes from getting “caught up in red tape” so they could rebuild quickly.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday raised the possibility of sending US troops to Los Angeles to help control the fire.
“There are active duty military personnel who are standing by to restore order, who are ready to come in and continue to support firefighting efforts,” Deanne Criswell told ABC’s This Week program. Speaking to CNN, she warned that strong winds expected in the coming days could further spread the fire.
No official estimate of the cost of the damage has yet been released, but analysts at AccuWeather last week estimated the economic loss at between $135 billion and $150 billion — less than the $250 billion cost associated with Hurricane Helene last year.
President Biden pledged Thursday that the US government will pay “100 percent of all costs” created by the disaster and will ask Congress for more financial help.
Trump, who on the campaign trail last year threatened to withhold disaster funding from California, has so far remained silent on whether he would offer similar aid. On Sunday, he renewed his attacks on state officials.
“Incompetent Poles have no idea how to put them (fires) out,” he wrote. “There is death everywhere. This is one of the worst disasters in the history of our country. They just can’t put out fires. What’s wrong with them?”
