California wildfires in real time: Palisades fire one of the most destructive in Los Angeles history

Mayor Karen Bass did not respond to questions about the city’s fire preparations and her decision to travel to Ghana for the country’s presidential inauguration amid serious wildfire warnings.

Bass said that shouldn’t be the focus at this point.

“We must protect lives, we must save lives and homes. Rest assured, once that’s done, we’ll definitely do an evaluation to see what worked and what didn’t work,” Bass told reporters Thursday. .

“Right now I’m focused on life and houses,” Bass said.

Bass was also asked about fire budget cuts, to which she highlighted a severe budget deficit and said the numbers given could be misleading because some funding may be withheld initially. She said she doesn’t believe the funding cuts are having any detrimental effect on fighting wildfires.

“I’m not here to talk about our budget,” Bass added.