Oh, Karen. Did you really think you'd get away with pretending you knew nothing about the off-the-charts, crazy windstorm predictions before you left the country and the fires broke out?
Well, as a matter of fact, she does. The Los Angeles mayor, whom we understand is a sentient adult, really believed that her Sgt. Schultz act would convince the world that she really didn't "see nussing!" before boarding a plane to Ghana to schmooze with the president of that African nation. While she was gone, parts of the city she led were incinerated.
Only days ago, Bass blamed her fire chief, Kristin Crowley, for failing to adequately warn her of the impending wind storms and the possible fallout. Crowley is the only one who's been fired for the city's colossal failure to prepare for the weather conditions that caused the worst fires in Los Angeles history.
But it turns out, according to emails released to the L.A. Times, there was widespread concern about the dire-sounding weather forecast issued by the National Weather Service days before 60-80 MPH winds fanned the fires.
What? Karen didn't get multiple emails sent by her own emergency officials?
If she didn't see the emails, her staff certainly did. The New York Post put it this way.
One email, which had been sent to more than 100 officials across multiple departments, included an attachment from the National Weather Service with a giant, red flame graphic and a warning of “critical fire conditions,” including 80-mph winds forecast for Jan. 7.
EMD officials also emailed two mayoral aides directly and asked to schedule a “tentative” coordination meeting to discuss the situation.
Yet the warning never reached Bass, who found herself sipping cocktails at a US Embassy party while her city burned 7,500 miles away.
Look at those flames.
A Fire Weather Watch is in effect Tuesday-Friday for portions of LA/Ventura Counties. There is the potential for damaging north to northeast winds, that are likely to peak Tuesday-Wednesday.
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 3, 2025
With no significant rainfall yet, fire season will continue in to the New Year! #CAwx pic.twitter.com/fahxe7RIpI
In the story "'Lack of Leadership': L.A. Fire Vet Says No One Prepared Even After Extreme Wind Warnings" and in this story "Don't Be Like Karen," I gave the verbatim weather report. Here's part of the message the NWS was sending to the clowns at the mayor's office.
...LIFE THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, WIDESPREAD WINDSTORM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES AND EASTERN VENTURA COUNTIES-- WITH LONG DURATION OF RED FLAG CONDITIONS INTO THURSDAY-- POSSIBLY EXTENDING INTO FRIDAY... ...RED FLAG WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY AND MUCH OF VENTURA COUNTY---SEE TIMINGS IN HEADLINES BELOW... ......Offshore winds are now expected to develop rapidly early Tuesday morning, leading to an earlier start time of the Red Flag Warning for many areas. Confidence is high for a life threatening, destructive, widespread windstorm with dangerous fire weather conditions Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning, especially focused on the San Gabriel mountains and foothills, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Hollywood/Beverly Hills, coastal areas adjacent to the Sepulveda Pass, Simi Valley, and Santa Monica mountains into Malibu. ... This is a high end Red Flag event. Any new fires will have a high risk for very rapid fire spread and large fire growth, extreme fire behavior, and long range spotting.
Shades of Katrina. You'd think that forecast would have been worth passing along, wouldn't you?
Bass herself had retweeted her own emergency department's dire warning about the windstorm. So, who's zooming whom, here?
Now, after someone's already been fired for the city's failures, Bass's Deputy Mayor Zach Seidl admits he saw the emails but didn't tell Bass about them. What's the word for someone who pretends to fall on his sword?
Seidel told the Times that the city emergency department used the word "tentative" about the date of the meeting about the weather event, and so he assumed things weren't urgent.
Predictions about the windstorms were made several days before Bass left the country.
Let's look at the timeline:
- The NWS issued its dire warning on January 2 for January 7.
- The NWS issued another critical fire conditions report on January 3 for January 7.
- On January 3, the city's emergency management spun up and called for a "tentative" meeting for that day.
- On January 4, Bass left for Ghana.
- On January 6, alarm bells were ringing at the emergency offices as the NWS blared more dire warnings.
- On January 7, as predicted, fires began in Pacific Palisade, Malibu, Altadena, and Pasadena
- Other fires broke out the following day.
A Fire Weather Watch is in effect Tuesday-Friday for portions of LA/Ventura Counties. There is the potential for damaging north to northeast winds, that are likely to peak Tuesday-Wednesday.
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 3, 2025
With no significant rainfall yet, fire season will continue in to the New Year! #CAwx pic.twitter.com/fahxe7RIpI
The L.A. Times reported that City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said that her office, like Bass's, got the memo about the weather.
City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, a Crowley supporter, said the Jan. 3 emails — the group email and the ones to the two Bass aides — show that EMD officials were advising Bass’ team of the potential for dangerous fire weather before she left the country.
“She keeps saying, ‘I wouldn’t have left had I known.’ But her staff did know,” Rodriguez said. “This verifies that her staff was notified of the potential threat by EMD, whose responsibility it is to let us know of these potential weather events.”
I hope the drinks were nice at the Ghana Embassy party. That may be the only nice memory Karen Bass will have from January 2025.
Show of hands: Do you believe Bass didn't get the warning? Comment below.
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