LA Mayor Refuses Help from NY Firefighters but Mexico Fire Crews More Than Welcome: Report
At this point, you kind of wonder whether the citizens of Los Angeles want Mayor Karen Bass back in Ghana.
As you may recall, the prominent California Democrat — former head of the Congressional Black Caucus during her time in the House of Representatives and a potential veep pick for Joe Biden in 2020 before her fondness for Fidel Castro and the “Church” of Scientology derailed her — was over in the African nation for the inauguration of a new president when the devastating California wildfires that have killed at least 11 as of Saturday morning broke out.
This was her reaction when she returned to the United States on Wednesday:
‘Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent whilst their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department’s budget?
@skydavidblevins questions the mayor of LA, Karen Bass, as she faces backlash regarding the California wildfires.https://t.co/Nkz8onjC7V pic.twitter.com/WwRwp6Imqz— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 8, 2025
Wonderful. As it turns out, however, she actually seems more useful to her city when she’s either silent or over in another country.
According to the New York Post, Bass refused help from the New York Fire Department — even though the city was willing to pay for airfare to bring firefighters out to Los Angeles. This comes as California Gov. Gavin Newsom is soliciting help from Mexico (por supuesto) to fight the blazes.
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker reportedly made the offer during the week, sources said Friday, with JetBlue volunteering to allow the firefighters free flights to California.
Mayor Bass’ office denied the report, however.
“This is false, we have never rejected resources — LA welcomes any and all help to fight fires,” said Zach Seidl, Los Angeles’ deputy mayor of communications.
Meanwhile, also on Friday, Newsom thanked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for sending their firefighters to fight the Eaton fire.
NEW: Firefighters from Mexico are en route to the #EatonFire — joining more than 10,000 personnel already on the ground.
California is deeply grateful for President @ClaudiaShein‘s support as we work to suppress the Los Angeles wildfires.
Our partnership and shared commitment…
— Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 10, 2025
“California is deeply grateful for President @ClaudiaShein’s support as we work to suppress the Los Angeles wildfires,” he wrote.
“Our partnership and shared commitment to helping communities in need is greatly valued.”
In other words, while Karen Bass is turning down firefighter help, Gavin Newsom is actively importing it from Mexico. When the optics favor Capt. Hair Gel, you really do need to take a step back and evaluate your leadership ability.
It’s worth noting, as the Post did, that there might be reasons why Bass thought the FDNY members wouldn’t be a great fit, although they don’t really compute. One of them is that this is a wildfire, something that’s different from most of the training that New York City’s bravest receive.
That being said, firefighters in California are stretched so thin that virtually anyone can help, and they could spell other Los Angeles Fire Department members in fighting fires around urban areas, leaving those closer to home to battle fires that frequently happen on their own terrain.
Moreover, as she faces veritable mutiny at home — her own fire chief went on TV to savage Bass for budget shortfalls on Friday — it’s a profoundly bad look for the mayor of the second biggest city in the United States to turn down an offer of assistance from the biggest city, which is what one guesses is the reason behind the denials.
Never fear, though: California Democrats have made sure the Mexican fire brigades are coming! At this point, you have to wonder whether Karen Bass is actively trying to make a farce of her own leadership for some unknown purpose. From the outside, it certainly looks that way.
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