Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope)
"Climate change has wreaked havoc on us," Min said.
After the fires engulfed the Los Angeles mountains, it was reported that local fire hydrants were not producing water and that the firefighter funding had recently been cut by millions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged these reports, and demanded an independent investigation be conducted into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) regarding the lack of water in the middle of the crisis, but Democratic lawmakers shifted the blame away from state leaders.
"The scale of damage and loss is unimaginable. Climate change is real, not 'a hoax.' Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis it is," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a social media post on Wednesday morning.
Senator Bernie Sanders said that "the scale of damage and loss is unimaginable. Climate change is real, not 'a hoax.' Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis it is." (Elaine Cromie/Bloomberg)
Months before the fires broke out, Los Angeles city officials cut the fire department budget by $17.6 million, while hundreds of thousands of dollars were being allocated to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the state.
Celebrities immediately began pointing fingers at city leadership for investing in programs such as a "syringe exchange" program that gives sterile syringes to homeless drug addicts, instead of more funding for fire prevention efforts.
"We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish. Our fire department budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits," actress Sara Foster wrote in a post on X.
Monstrous wildfires ravaged coastal cities in California in January. (AP)
On the same platform, Khloé Kardashian called out the city's Democratic mayor, writing, "Mayor Bass you are a joke!!!!"
Rick Caruso, founder of a real estate company and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate, suggested that forest management could have mitigated the fires.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"We knew the winds were coming. We knew that there was brush that needed to be cleared 20 years ago," Caruso, founder of a real estate company and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate, told the LA Times. "This fire could have been mitigated — maybe not prevented."
Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-blame-fire-climate-change-despite-cutting-fire-department-budget