By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LOS ANGELES, USA (Worthy News) – Massive wildfires raged through neighborhoods of Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city, and surrounding areas in the U.S. state of California late Wednesday, where tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes.
Authorities said four wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County, including the Pacific Palisades and Sylmar neighborhoods of Los Angeles and another near Pasadena.
Officials warned that the fires were ” zero percent contained ” as of Wednesday afternoon.
More than 70,000 residents were under evacuation orders as the Los Angelas area wildfires which threaten at least 28,000 structures, according to authorities.
Adding to the misery, more than 400,000 people were without power in Los Angeles County by Wednesday afternoon.
Santa Ana winds from the east are pushing the fires, and officials have warned that “the worst is yet to come.”
NAVY HELICOPTERS
With fires reaching apocalyptic proportions, the U.S. Department of Defense said it is deploying ten Navy helicopters with water delivery buckets to help suppress wildfires raging across southern California.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that the 10 Navy helicopters come in addition to the California National Guard and the Nevada Nation Guard, each readying an additional two “modular air fighting system units.”
The Navy’s helicopters with watery delivery buckets will “immediately assist with aerial suppression,” Singh said, cautioning that high winds complicate efforts.
“We can search assets, and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever California needs. But we have to work with California, and right now, we can’t even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad and because the winds are so bad,” she added.
At President Biden’s direction, the military “will provide additional firefighting personnel and capabilities,” Singh stressed. “The federal government is working closely with the National Guard, which is deployed under the governor’s state of emergency declaration.”
However, U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump pinned the blame for the “apocalyptic” wildfires tearing through Los Angeles County on California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
PROTECTING FISH
He claimed the governor “refused 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, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
Trump alleged on his Truth Social media platform late Wednesday morning that the governor “wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California.”
Trump added, “Now the ultimate price is being paid.”
He made clear that soon after his January 20 inauguration as president he would “demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”
In response, Newsom’s director of communications, Izzy Gardon, said: “We’re focused on protecting lives and battling these blazes—not playing politics.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The US-based Anti-Defamation League has reported there were over 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the current war in Gaza.
Responding to US President-elect Donald Trump’s recent statement that he would not rule out military action to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU member Denmark, France on Wednesday warned that Europe is “strong” and will not allow another nation to attack its “sovereign borders,” Reuters reports.
In an effort to become less reliant on the United States and other nations for heavy weapons, Israel has signed two major arms deals with Israeli munitions company Elbit Systems totaling $275 million, i24News reports.
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – Continuing a campaign of terror against Christians in northern Nigeria that has lasted over 18 years, Fulani militant herdsmen launched a fresh attack against believers in Kaduna state during a New Year’s Day dawn raid on Unguwar Rogo village, Kajuru County, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. While no one was killed in this particular attack, all the Christian villagers were forced to flee for their lives as homes and the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) building were set on fire, MSN reports. “Tragic New Year’s attack, terrorists invaded one of our … Read more
Archaeologists excavating in southern Israel have uncovered a unique Byzantine-era ((5th-6th centuries AD) mosaic floor with a Scripture from the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
The US Biden administration this week accused the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide against the people of Sudan amid the ongoing civil war in the country, BBC News reports.
Iranian ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was ousted by Islamic insurgents just one month ago, and Iran has already withdrawn most of its troops from the country, the Wall Street Journal reports.