House speaker Mike Johnson says California aid should come with conditions
House speaker Mike Johnson believes there should be conditions on disaster aid to California, citing âstate and local leaders [who] were derelict in their duties.â
Johnson, who spoke with CNN Monday, added: âI think that there should probably be conditions on that aid. Thatâs my personal view. Weâll see what the consensus is. I havenât had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend, because weâve all been very busy. But it will be part of the discussion for sure.â
Congress, which is responsible for approving federal aid for disaster relief, usually does not add conditions to those packages. But Johnsonâs comments, focused on âwater resource mismanagement, forest management mistakes and all sorts of problems,â suggest the Republican-led House may approach aid differently for California.
Key events
Abené Clayton
As fire crews try to get the upper hand on the fires that are burning across parts of Los Angeles, more stories of people who lost their lives in the infernos are emerging. On Sunday, the county coroner told the family of the actor Dalyce Curry, affectionately known as âMamaâ that the 95-year-old grandmotherâs remains were found in her Altadena home, ABC 7 news reports.
Curry was an actor who appeared in films including the Blues Brother and Ten Commandments and according to her granddaughter Loree Beamer-Wilkinson her grandmother âwas very active, you would not think she was 95.â
Another granddaughter and Curryâs part-time caretaker Dallyce Kelley told the news outlet that she dropped her grandmother off at home late last Tuesday night. The next morning she awoke to the news that the power in Curryâs home went out. On Friday she was escorted to the charred remains of her grandmotherâs home.
âIt was total devastation,â Kelley told ABC 7. âEverything was gone except her blue Cadillac.â
The Duchess of Sussex has pushed back the release of her new Netflix series due to the wildfires that have ravaged the LA-area.
âWith Love, Meghanâ was set to debut Wednesday, but the streaming service said Sunday that it supports her request to push the premiere to focus on helping those affected by the fires.
The Duchess was born and raised in Los Angeles and now lives in Montecito, California, with Harry, the Duke of Sussex and their two children.
On Saturday, the royal couple visited Pasadena to hand out food and water to fire victims and thank first responders.
âWith Love, Meghanâ is a lifestyle program featuring the Duchess chatting with celebrity pals and demonstrating tasks like floral arrangements and baking. âIâve always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it,â Meghan says in the trailer. The show will now drop March 4.
Wildfires could be costliest disaster in US history
Although government agencies have not yet provided preliminary estimates of the damage caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, AccuWeather â a company that provides data on weather and its impact â approximates the damage and economic losses fall somewhere between $250bn and $275bn.
That far exceeds the cost of the damage caused by the Camp fire, Californiaâs most destructive in 2018 ($30bn) or the Maui fires ($5.7bn) in 2023. Itâs also greater than the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, which devastated six southern states last fall ($225bn to $250bn).
The fires have killed at least 24 people and wrecked more than 12,000 structures according to initial estimates.
Mayor Karen Bass has directed city officials to distribute hundreds of thousands of N95 face masks to local libraries, recreation centers and senior centers.
âWeâre working protect everyone from the impact of poor air quality caused by the fires,â she shared on social media Monday afternoon. âPick up a mask now and protect yourselves and your loved ones.â
As officials prepare for the return of high winds in southern California, thousands have already been displaced by the Los Angeles area wildfires. Here are the latest photos coming in from the ground:
Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross has announced it plans to donate $10 million to help communities recover from the Los Angeles wildfires.
The president of Anthem Blue Cross Commercial Plans Beth Andersen said that with nearly 7,000 employees in California the company wanted to support the people affected by the fires. The money will be donated by the insurerâs foundation.
âWe want our associates, members, care providers, and communities to know we stand with them,â Andersen said.
Officials pre-deploy firefighters as LA braces for ‘explosive fire growth’
State and city officials are pre-deploying firefighters as fire weather is expected to continue in the Los Angeles area through Wednesday.
Red flag warnings will continue this week, according to the National Weather Service. âIn other words, this setup is about as bad as it gets. Stay aware of your surroundings. Be prepared to evacuate. Avoid anything that can spark a fire,â the service posted on social media Monday.
In response, mayor Karen Bass announced that first responders and fire engines âhave been pre-deployed in areas close to the Palisades fire and fire stations throughout the cityâ.
California governor Gavin Newsom added that âhundreds of firefighting assets are currently prepositioned across Southern Californiaâ in Los Angeles and other neighboring counties.
Altadena residents file suit against southern California utility
Altadena residents filed three lawsuits against Southern California Edison Monday, alleging that the utility is responsible for the Eaton fire. The lawsuits cite evidence that the fire began under a transmission tower and reference the utilityâs role in other wildfires. However, no official cause for the fire has yet been determined.
âWe believe that the Eaton fire was ignited because of SCEâs failure to de-energize its overhead wires, which traverse Eaton Canyon,â attorney Richard Bridgford, who is representing one of the homeowners, told the Los Angeles Times.
The utility has said it does not believe the transmission tower was responsible for the fire and that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Friends and relatives have identified longtime Topanga resident and avid hang-glider Arthur Simoneau, 69, as a victim of the Palisades fire.
Simoneau, who built his home in the Santa Monica Mountains in 1992, was returning home from a ski trip when he learned of the evacuation orders, friend Steve Murillo told the Los Angeles Times. Although he was clear of the blaze, he started driving home to try and safe his house.
âArthur was the kind of guy that once he put his mind to something, you couldnât really talk him out of stuff,â said Murillo, who spoke to Simoneau as he was en route to the home Tuesday.
Neighbor Susan Dumond told the Times Simoneau was the unofficial caretaker of their street.
âThatâs his nature is to protect the community, protect his house. I would imagine thatâs what he did,â said Dumond. âHe cared about the community a lot, and would do anything to try to help it.â
Although she evacuated during the fire, she returned later to retrieve medical equipment â which is where she saw sherrifâs officials inspecting Simoneauâs house.
On a GoFundMe page, Simoneauâs son wrote that he always knew his hang-gliding and motorcycling father âwouldnât die of old age or illness.â
âIt was always in the back of our heads that he would die in spectacular Arthur fashion,â he wrote. âUnfortunately, he died in the Palisades fire protecting his house [and] doing what he did best: being a badass and doing something only he was brave enough (or crazy enough) to do.â
House speaker Mike Johnson says California aid should come with conditions
House speaker Mike Johnson believes there should be conditions on disaster aid to California, citing âstate and local leaders [who] were derelict in their duties.â
Johnson, who spoke with CNN Monday, added: âI think that there should probably be conditions on that aid. Thatâs my personal view. Weâll see what the consensus is. I havenât had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend, because weâve all been very busy. But it will be part of the discussion for sure.â
Congress, which is responsible for approving federal aid for disaster relief, usually does not add conditions to those packages. But Johnsonâs comments, focused on âwater resource mismanagement, forest management mistakes and all sorts of problems,â suggest the Republican-led House may approach aid differently for California.
Beyoncé contributes $2.5m to fire relief fund
Beyoncé has contributed $2.5 million to a newly launched LA Fire Relief Fund created by her charitable foundation, BeyGOOD.
âThe fund is earmarked to aid families in the Altadena/Pasadena area who lost their homes, and to churches and community centers to address the immediate needs of those affected by the wildfires,â BeyGOOD shared on Instagram.
Last week, Beyoncéâs mother Tina Knowles shared that her Malibu bungalow was destroyed in the Los Angeles-area fires.
âIt was my favorite place, my sanctuary, my sacred happy place. now it is gone,â she wrote on Instagram. âGod Bless all the brave men and women in our fire department who risked their lives in dangerous conditions.â
Relatives have identified Evelyn McClendon, 59, as another victim of the Eaton fire. McClendon was working to evacuate her home in Altadena where she lived next door to her brother, Zaire Calvin, and elderly mother.
Calvin told Fox 11 LA reporters that he was focusing on evacuate his wife, 1-year-old child and elderly mother when the fire broke out. He thought his sister was evacuating too, but âas we were leaving, I glanced and I remember seeing her car still parked out in front of the house,â Calvin said.
Calvin said the family barely escaped, and when they returned the following day a cousin found McClendonâs remains in the wreckage of her bedroom. He said the family was from the community and had survived previous wildfires before.
âI just want to say rest in peace to Evelyn McClendon,â he said. âYou were loved, you were cared about.â
The firefighting plane that was grounded after sustaining damage from a drone has been repaired and will return to firefighting duty Tuesday, pending Faa approval says LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone. The Super Scooper â which can âscoopâ water from nearby lakes and oceans to dump on fires â was loaned to California by Canada where it was aiding efforts to extinguish the Palisades fire when it was hit by a drone Thursday.
The Los Angeles county medical examiner has formally identified two of the victims of the Eaton and Palisades fire as Victor Shaw, 66, and Charles Mortimer, 84. Shawâs family had previously come forward to identify him after they were alerted to his death in the Eaton fire.
Mortimer, who died in a hospital from a heart attack, smoke inhalation and burns, appears to have been a local realtor who lived in Pacific Palisades.