‘A Perfect Storm’: LA Mayor Karen Bass Calls for Unity Amid Criticism of Her Handling of LA Fires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed the historic fires ravaging her city on a perfect storm of ‘historic winds extensive drought’ before calling for unity — amid criticism about her handling of the ongoing catastrophe.

Bass spoke at a Thursday morning press event at which she delivered prepared remarks that provided some insight into the underlying factors at play and called for Los Angelenos to stay “united” amid the horrific disaster.

Bass has come under criticism for being out of the country to attend an inauguration in Ghana while the fires started, despite calling for a state of emergence before the fires began. Five individuals are known dead, though many more casualties are expected. Hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and commercial structures have been destroyed, including a great number of Los Angeles landmarks.

Fox News took the press briefing live — interrupting its live coverage of the State Funeral for President Jimmy Carter.

“One voice,” Bass began. “That is the way we speak. And that is the way we stand here. United Los Angeles will stand united and stand strong.” She then shared her thoughts with the thousands of her constituents impacted by the fires and forced to evacuate.

After providing details of rescue and fire abatement efforts, she described the disaster: “Historic winds and extensive drought have created a perfect storm that has driven people from their homes and have taken people’s homes and that has taken people’s lives.”

She ended on a call for unity, saying, “We need to continue to cooperate. We need to evacuate. When asked to do so, we need to help others, help our neighbors. And first and foremost, we need to stay united. We need to stay strong. A united L.A. is the way we will recover is the way we rebuild our communities.”

Bass received national criticism for her inability to answer tough questions from a reporter Wednesday evening, as well as her gaffe of reading “URL” from prepared remarks instead of sharing a proper web address.

A transcript of her full statement can be read below:

One voice. That is the way we speak. And that is the way we stand here. United Los Angeles will stand united and stand strong.

So first of all, my thoughts are with the thousands of Angelenos who are impacted by this emergency. As more Angelenos were forced to make the terrifying decision to evacuate, our priorities, of course, are to keep Angelenos safe and to protect homes.

The winds continue to be of a historic nature and a key factor of this firestorm. For much of Tuesday, the unprecedented winds prevented air operations to continue. However, as of yesterday, the winds have allowed for air operations, and that has enabled significant progress against the fires in Hollywood and Studio City last night. And as of 7:30 this morning, evacuation orders in Hollywood have been lifted.

Angelinos cooperated, the community stood together, they evacuated. And Angelenos should continue to proceed with caution. Air operations are continuing rapidly in the Palisades, in Sylmar and across our region. We continue to see our heroes from our L.A. firefighters and from personnel families, neighbors from across the county and the state. We thank you. However, we continue to confront a big one level firestorm.

Historic winds and extensive drought have created a perfect storm that has driven people from their homes and have taken people’s homes and that has taken people’s lives. I’ve been in the fire zones, and you can see how fast and devastating these wind driven fires are. I know people from all over the nation are asking how they can help.

So here are two essential ways. First of all, support the California Community Foundation Wildlife Recovery Fund at Cal fund.org and support the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and support LAFD.org. And in addition to shelters, Airbnb is offering free temporary housing. Go to 211 L.A. org for more information.

This, as we know, is a regional crisis. So working together is the only way we will get through this. That’s why I’ve been in constant contact with my colleagues at the county, state and federal level. President Biden, Governor Newsom have assured us of full state and federal support. And of course, County Chair Barger and I are fully coordinated, as I am with all of the local elected officials and our fire departments, police departments, utilities and other critical agencies are coordinated as well.

We have pre-deployed. We are executing a strategy and we are adapting to conditions on the ground in real time. This is absolutely an unprecedented historic fire storm. But we are all hands on deck.

We need to continue to cooperate. We need to evacuate. When asked to do so, we need to help others, help our neighbors. And first and foremost, we need to stay united. We need to stay strong. A united L.A. is the way we will recover is the way we rebuild our communities

Watch above via Fox News.