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Devastating Pacific Palisades Fire Claims Lives Amid Budget Cuts and Criticism of LA Mayor

A fast-moving fire has been raging in the Los Angeles’ upscale Pacific Palisades region and has already taken the lives of five people. The fire has devastated the region and destroyed properties worth millions of dollars and has also displaced 100,000 people who have been forced to evacuate the region.

In between these stories of devastation came the news that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had cut the fire department budget by more than $17 million last year. The Mayor is also facing flak for having embarked on a visit to Ghana amid the raging inferno in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) has been allocated $837 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal years and it constituted a cut of $17 million as compared to previous years. According to Fox News 65 per cent of the $1.3 billion budget was designated for homelessness initiatives but roughly 50% of the budget for homelessness went unspent.

The budget cut has been enforced even though the region is prone to wildfires and climate experts have repeatedly warned about extreme events and dry conditions. In the last decade, Los Angeles has borne the brunt of numerous wildfires and out of the 20 of the most destructive fires in LA history, 15 have occurred in the last decade.

Despite the claims which have been circulating in social media that the cut in the funding has delayed the firefighting efforts, experts state that the cut is trivial in comparison to the $837 million budget and did not have any impact on the LAFD’s response.

Of the $837 million budget million for the Los Angeles Fire Department for the fiscal year 2024-2025, $78 million was distributed as salaries and $41.3 million for expenses.

The fires have ravaged more than 1000 structures in the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst regions with some areas of Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and Altadena under compulsory evacuation orders. Over 300,000 people are living without power and over 440,000 could face outages.

The LAFD is having trouble controlling the fires because of strong Santa Ana winds which are gusting up to 100 mph and helping in the spread of the wildfires into new regions. The city is also facing a water shortage as the firefighters use water to douse the flames.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has negated the criticism about the cut in the fire department budget and lack of water supplies and added that the fire budget had topped last year.

Karen said,

“Our family and friends have been affected and it’s easy to get caught up in information that is not accurate, which is the reason why we do press conferences exactly like this,”

Also Read: Laken Riley Act Passes House Amid Fierce Debate on Immigration and Public Safety

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Manoj Nair

Manoj Nair: With a decade of news writing across various media platforms, Manoj is a seasoned professional. His dual role as an English teacher underscores his command over communication. He adeptly covers Politics, Technology, Crypto, and more, reflecting a broad and insightful perspective that engages and informs diverse audiences.

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