Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks alongside immigrant community leaders outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 8. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Bass, who has also drawn criticism for flying to Africa for an event days before the fire broke out despite hazardous conditions in the forecast and warnings about fire risks, has denied the accuracy of the reporting.
Still, widespread outrage has resulted both on social media and from politicians.
"There’s no moving forward until we get the answers and the people that are responsible are fired, and that includes the fire chiefs, the fire battalion chiefs, that includes the mayor, it includes anybody that had anything to do with this," reality TV star Spencer Pratt, running for mayor of Los Angeles, told Fox Los Angeles while standing next to the burnt remains of his Palisades home that was destroyed in the fire.
Businessman Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Bass is said to be mulling another run, called the report an "outrage" and that Bass "actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history."
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Protestors hold up signs at the "They let us burn" protest in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, 2026. (Nora Moriarty)
"Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget," the mayor’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"She and her staff made no changes to the drafts. The Mayor has been clear about her concerns regarding pre-deployment and the LAFD’s response to the fire, which is why there is new leadership at LAFD and why she called for an independent review of the Lachman Fire mop-up. There is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire – full stop. She has said this for months. This is muckraking journalism at its lowest form. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false."
Fox News Digital's Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayor-bass-facing-blowback-over-explosive-report-that-she-altered-wildfire-report-to-downplay-citys-role