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On Friday, reports surfaced that Mayor Karen Bass planned to fire Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley after Crowley publicly blamed Bass during an interview. Just a day later, on Saturday, Governor Gavin Newsom appeared to throw both under the bus during an appearance on Pod Save America, claiming that he “wasn’t getting straight answers” and “was getting different answers” from L.A. officials on water shortages. It’s clear that those in charge are more focused on shifting blame than taking responsibility for this disaster.

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As you know, Newsom is far from blameless. California’s broader wildfire and water management policies also share significant responsibility. The state has faced years of criticism for its insufficient wildfire prevention efforts and outdated water storage infrastructure. Former President Donald Trump consistently highlighted the need for better forest management—like clearing flammable brush and expanding water storage through new reservoirs. Yet, his practical solutions were met with resistance from environmental groups and state officials who prioritized ecological concerns over human safety.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This is all his fault!!!”

On top of that, it turns out that Newsom cut over $100 million from wildfire prevention funding in this fiscal year’s budget.

An analysis of California’s 2024 Budget Bill, which covers its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, by the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded it slashed $101 million from seven “wildfire and forest resilience” programs.

The California Analyst’s Office is an impartial body that analyses the economic impact of proposed laws and is overseen by the state legislature’s Legislative Budget Committee.

Cuts included a reduction of $5 million in spending on CAL FIRE fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by the California National Guard. This left the total available for this scheme at $129 million.

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Another $4 million was cut from a forest legacy program designed to encourage landowners to adopt better management practices, while $28 million was slashed from funding for multiple state conservancies aimed at boosting wildfire resilience. An additional $8 million was cut from monitoring and research allocations, which had primarily been directed to CAL FIRE and California universities. Additionally, $3 million was removed from funding for an interagency forest data hub. Funding for a home hardening pilot program, intended to make homes more resilient to wildfires, was also reduced by $12 million.

Newsom’s office pushed back on the allegations, pointing out that overall, wildfire protection funding has increased since he became governor.

Newsom’s director of communications, Izzy Gardon, called the budget cuts a “ridiculous lie,” in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday night.

“The governor has doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet and the state has increased the forest management ten-fold since he took office,” she wrote. “Facts matter.”

His office attached statistics that refer to the overall increase in spending and personnel over a number of years since he took office in 2019, as opposed to commenting on the most recent cuts.

A Fox News review of the current state budget showed that the state earmarked $3.79 billion and 10,742 employees for fire protection, a steep increase from the 2018-2019 budget, which allocated just over $2 billion and 5,829 employees for fire protection.

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Clearly, many California residents aren’t willing to let Newsom off the hook for the lack of preparation.