Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass got defensive when she was grilled by reporters over the city’s readiness for the destructive wildfires that erupted while she was away in Ghana.
When a CBS News reporter asked her about the “lack of preparation and rapid response” they witnessed on the ground, Bass said that her priorities are to save lives and protect residents’ property.
“Rest assured, when that is done, when we are safe, when lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn’t work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual, etc.,” Bass said. “But my focus right now is on the lives and on the home.
When asked if she was frustrated by the lack of water in fire hydrants, Bass quipped, “of course.”
“We also know hydrants are not designed to deal with this type of massive devastation and that the number one problem especially on Wednesday was the fact that we weren’t able to do air support because of the wind,” she defended. “I am not sure that’s correct there were no resources, but rest assured as soon as we’re done here, I will follow up with that.”