A House Democrat told CNN this week she wonders if local authorities purposefully slowed their response to wildfires in Los Angeles’ Altadena neighborhood.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., suggested to a surprised CNN anchor on Tuesday that local authorities purposefully allowed homes in Los Angeles’ Altadena neighborhood to be ravaged by wildfires in recent weeks.
“We need to find out the facts — a full-scale investigation on what went wrong. I and the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus, for example, are curious about who decided to sacrifice Altadena, a historically Black community in the LA County area,” she told CNN’s Sara Sidner.
“There is no reason why only 2/5 of the folks who had their houses burned down were insured, and why companies are leaving California in droves, as well as other disaster-prone states,” the lawmaker, who represents the 37th Congressional District based in LA County, added.
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State Farm, for example, canceled over 72,000 home and apartment policies in the months prior to the devastating LA wildfires that started, leaving thousands of residents perplexed and desperate following the loss of their homes.
Los Angeles Fire Insurance expert Richard Giller told Fox News Channel recently that state policy is to blame for these canceled policies, as lawmakers refused to allow insurance companies to increase premium costs for residents in the wake of ever-more destructive fires.
As a result, insurance companies have written fewer claims, canceled claims, or even left California entirely. “So the insurance companies tried to seek approval for rate increases and the California Department of Insurance and the insurance commissioner decided, you know, they didn’t want homeowners to pay more money … It all came to a head with seven of the 12 largest insurance companies pulling out of the state,” Giller told FNC.
Seemingly taken aback by the lawmaker’s claims, Sidner asked, “Congresswoman, did you just say sacrifice Altadena? I mean, are you suggesting that this was done somehow on purpose to hurt Altadena? There are a lot of conspiracies out there.”
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The representative clarified she wasn’t suggesting that anyone committed arson, but she mentioned other decisions made ahead of the fire that she deemed suspicious.
“But what we do know is that power was shut off in Altadena. What we do know is that residents were not given adequate time to leave their homes,” she said, noting that some folks she talked to said they were not given enough warning ahead of time to get back home and save the lives of their own pets.
Sidner attempted to explain why the power was off, stating that officials told the news network they “were worried it was going to create more fire danger.”
“And that is why the pumps weren‘t working to get the water into the hydrants,” the anchor added.
The congresswoman acknowledged the response and replied by stating the need for local lawmakers to see reconstructing these fire-ravaged areas through an “equity lens.”
