Officials fight against misinformation about SoCal wildfires
LOS ANGELES - In addition to battling the Palisades and Eaton blazes, the California government is facing another firestorm: one on misinformation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom shared Saturday a list of what he called false accusations regarding the state's firefighting capacity among the deadly wildfires ravaging parts of the southland.
Newsom addressed the claim that California cut the budget for firefighting by $100 million before the fires, calling it a "ridiculous lie" and added that the state doubled its firefighting army, built the world's largest aerial firefighting fleet, and increased forest management ten-fold since he took office.
According to the numbers he shared, Cal Fire personnel have nearly doubled, from 5,829 to 10,741 since 2019 and the budget went from $2 billion to $3.8 billion in the same period.
Newsom also pushed back on the "lie" that the wildfires were caused by the state mismanaging forest lands. Newsom said the budget for "raking the forest" is 10 times larger than it was before his term and that the state has dramatically increased work on the forestland, including increasing forest resilience and adding resources to the state's wildfire response capabilities.
He also addressed the claim he is working with developers to change zoning in burn areas to allow mass apartments, saying, "This is not true."
Speculation has swirled that the state's smelt fish policy played a part in the localized shortages of water available for firefighting.
"This is an outlandish connection to make. The policy is not about water availability in Southern California. Broadly, there is no water shortage in Southern California right now, despite Trump's claims that he would open some imaginary spigot," his office said in a statement.
California fires latest: More evacuations ordered; 11 killed
The Los Angeles area is waking up to a fifth day of wildfires after a massive flare-up of the Palisades fire forced more evacuations Friday night.
Similarly, claims about the state running out of water from its reservoirs are being refuted.
"Water reservoirs in Southern California are at record levels. There is no shortage of water in Southern California…reservoirs are full and water is available," officials said.
That said, Newsom called for an investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
Claims online that firetrucks from Oregon were not allowed in to help fight the flames were also debunked, both by the Oregon State Fire Marshal and Newsom.
"To say otherwise is not only incorrect, it's offensive to the brave men and women who are fighting on the frontlines right now," Newsom tweeted.
The Palisades Fire, which broke out on Tuesday, has burned tens of thousands of acres in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, destroyed thousands of structures, and displaced thousands more. It is one of several fires throughout the region.
More information about the facts relating to the wildfires can be accessed here.
The Source: The Press Office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gavin Newsom's X (formerly Twitter) account, the Oregon State Fire Marshal