CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

Newsweek -    The 2024-25 California state budget, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in June 2024, slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by $101 million as part of a series of cutbacks according to an analysis by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. However overall, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)'s wildfire protection budget has increased sharply from $1.1 billion in 2014 to $3 billion in 2023, much of which took place after Newsom became governor in 2019. Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Newsom said that under the governor's "leadership" the CAL FIRE budget had doubled from $2 billion in 2018-19 to $3.8 billion in 2024-25, whilst the department's personnel went from 5,829 to 10,741 over the same period.

 Gizmodo - Airbnb says it is offering free temporary housing to residents of the Los Angeles area affected by the wildfires currently raging through Southern California. The company has partnered with 211 LA, a non-profit telephone line that offers local information services in multiple languages.

Time- President-Elect Donald Trump laid blame for the disaster at the feet of Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden. “NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!” Trump wrote in a Jan. 8 Truth Social post. As for Newsom, Trump faulted the governor for allegedly refusing “to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California.”

Biden ignored Trump’s broadside. Newsom’s office hit back, posting on X: “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration—that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

The Guardian - Nearly 180,000 people have been evacuated and at least 10 have been killed in the fast-moving fires that have torn through the county, propelled by hurricane-force winds. The burnt areas now cover more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres), with about 10,000 structures charred by the two biggest blazes. Meanwhile, Santa Monica declared a curfew because of looting, officials said, with at least 20 arrests made.

What we known so far