By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-14 17:56:31 | Updated at 2025-01-18 02:04:10
3 days ago
Actress Patricia Heaton laid into California's embattled leadership for 'dropping the ball' in their response to the devastating Los Angeles fires.
The Everybody Loves Raymond star raged at the apparent unpreparedness of Los Angeles' emergency services as she told Fox News the city was learning a 'very harsh lesson.'
'I know some of the officials were saying, ‘Well, the system was overwhelmed.’ Well, in case of a huge fire, of course it's going to be overwhelmed,' she said.
'You should know that and have been prepared for that.'
Heaton, who now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, questioned where the significant tax dollars that the Los Angeles area rakes in have been spent, and said residents 'can't just rely on the government to take care of things.'
'I think there's a lot of money spent in LA, and we can't figure out where it's going,' she continued.
'In 2014, a (proposition) was passed to create new reservoirs... zero were created. Because they were protecting the smelt or something.'
Heaton was referencing California Governor Gavin Newsom's initiative to conserve the delta smelt fish that have been alleged to have disrupted water supplies across the now-scorched city.
Newsom has come under mounting criticism alongside Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for the city's overwhelmed response to the fires, which have so far killed at least 24 people and burned over 12,000 buildings to the ground.
Everybody Loves Raymond actress Patricia Heaton laid into California 's embattled leadership for 'dropping the ball' in their response to the devastating Los Angeles fires
As the death toll surged to 24 in recent days, officials warned that the figure is expected to grow as crews struggle to access the smoldering wreckages of entire neighborhoods
Authorities predict rebuilding Los Angeles could cost upwards of $150 billion and take over a decade, as Heaton hit out at state leaders for 'a lot of money spent in LA, and we can't figure out where it's going'
Bass was met with widespread backlash for her approach to handling the crisis, with the mayor panned for being out of the country in the first days of the fires and for slashing the city's fire department budget.
She was then caught in footage standing in stunned silence as a Sky News reporter questioned her response and refusal to apologize to residents.
Heaton said this week that after seeing how Bass and Newsom handled the disaster, progress will only come from 'people coming together in your community and insisting on getting stuff done.'
'And sadly, this is a very, very, very harsh lesson,' she continued to Fox News.
'But I guess that's what it takes to kind of break apart that bureaucracy and get the stuff done that the government is supposed to do, which is take care of the infrastructure first and foremost.'
Heaton joined other celebrities including Chris Pratt and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in working with the LA Dream Center since the fires broke out, helping the initiative to provide aid to victims.
Heaton said this week that Los Angelinos were learning a 'very harsh lesson' in the wake of the fires as she condemned California's leadership during the crisis
Heaton named California Governor Gavin Newsom's safeguarding of a tiny fish that have been alleged to have disrupted water supplies ahead of the fires
Officials have issued an unprecedented fourth 'particularly dangerous situation' fire weather warning as high winds are set to hit the fire-ravaged Los Angeles area
Experts warn that drought-like conditions and high winds have created the perfect conditions for wildfires to erupt and spread rapidly
She said she has been supporting the organization from her home in Nashville, and said leaving Los Angeles for the Tennessee city was the 'right decision' for her.
'My four sons still live in LA, and we go back to hang out and take meetings,' Heaton continued.
'And we have many friends there and are doing business there, but Nashville seems to be welcoming a lot of people from our industry. So I'm not the only one that made this decision.'
Heaton said Nashville is 'filling up' with Californians, and had 'a feeling after this fire we're going to get another huge amount of talented, creative people who have decided, you know, they've had enough.'
'They can be creative without worrying about houses burning down and taxes going up and crime and all that stuff,' she said.
Heaton is far from the only Hollywood celebrity to condemn the response to the wildfires, with actress and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver saying this week that 'LA cannot go forward with the status quo.'
It comes as Los Angeles was placed under an unprecedented wind warning amid fears 70mph gusts could trigger a new inferno.
The National Weather Service issued a fourth 'particularly dangerous situation' warning to take effect 4am Tuesday, cautioning that winds of up to 70mph will last through noon Wednesday.
Huge swaths of the bone-dry city are under the new warning from Ventura across much of the San Fernando Valley, while areas from San Diego to San Bernadino remain under conventional red flag warnings.
Overwhelmed fire crews received bad news Tuesday as forecasters issued an urgent 'particularly dangerous situation' warning over winds of up to 70mph that will last through noon Wednesday
The fourth warning comes after the previous three this fire season brought havoc to the densely populated area, including the ongoing Palisades and Eaton fires that have become among the deadliest in California history.
Much of the area around Malibu and the Pacific Palisades are also under the new warning, where at least 24 people have died and over 12,000 buildings have been destroyed in multiple fires.
Meteorologists warn that unseasonable drought-like conditions have turned the city into potential kindling as high winds set in.
The last significant rainfall in downtown Los Angeles came in May 2024, and since October 1 just 0.16 inches of rain has fallen - compared to a historical average of 5.34 inches by this time, reports the LA Times.
Climatologist Bill Patzert told the outlet that 'the past nine months has been one of the driest in the historical record going back to 1900. During my career, I’ve never seen punishing Santa Ana events so overwhelm the normal winter rain season.'
