It's not a good time to be an official in California. The public is a bit angry about the way they are handling a raging wildfire in Pacific Palisades at the moment. Firefighters have complained that they are running out of water and that fire hydrants have gone dry. President-Elect Donald Trump accused Governor Gavin Newsom of mismanaging the water supply in California.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Speaking with Anderson Cooper, Newsom dodged the issue, placing the blame with local officials to figure out as the wildfire continues to burn.
"Look, the local folks are trying to figure that out," he told Cooper. "I mean when you have a system — but it's not dissimilar from what we've seen in other extraordinarily large-scale fires, whether it be pipe, electricity, or whether it just be the complete overwhelm of the system."
He continued, " I mean those hydrants are typical for two or three fires — maybe one fire and you have something of this scale, but again that's gonna be determined by the local."
Gavin Newsom Talks Fire Hydrnats
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced all three of the 1 million-gallon tanks ran dry on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Trump put Newsom on blast on social media, claiming the governor prioritize protecting endangers fish over people's lives. He said that Newsom blocked a federal order to divert water to Southern California.
"He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt... but didn't care about the people of California," Trump said on Truth Social. "Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is to blame for this."
Newsom dismissed Trump's criticism.
"One can't even respond to it," Newsom replied. "People are literally fleeing, people lost their lives, kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say — I won't."
Meanwhile, Newsom declared a state of emergency for the state earlier this week.
He said, "This is a highly dangerous windstorm that's creating extreme fire risk - and we're not out of the woods. We're already seeing the destructive impacts with this fire in Pacific Palisades that grew rapidly in a matter of minutes. Our deepest thanks go to our expert firefighters and first responders who jumped quickly into fighting this dangerous fire. If you're in Southern California, please pay attention to weather reports and follow any guidance from emergency officials."
