By LOS ANGELES — Palisades and Eaton fire survivors still need help.
That’s the message Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., hopes to send to Congress next week at first joint address of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Joining him at the address Tuesday will be union leader Frank Lima, a Los Angeles fire captain who helped defend the Pacific Palisades fire station when flames and scorching embers surrounded it on Jan. 7.
Attendees often bring guests who represent causes important to lawmakers.
“As President Trump outlines his priorities for our country, we want to make clear that Los Angeles County cannot be forgotten,” Padilla said in a statement. “The community faces a long road to recovery and we need a fully staffed and supported firefighting workforce and federal support without conditions.”
It has been nearly two months since deadly wildfires devastated the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, the city of Altadena and surrounding communities in what is likely to be the costliest disaster in California’s history.
At least 29 people died, and more than 16,000 structures were destroyed.
Lima described the nearly weeklong siege “as a once-in-a-generation, biblical fire.” Hurricane-force winds ripped through large swaths of Los Angeles County, toppling trees and utility wires and sending thick smoke, ash and soot whirling across the county.
Among the difficulties that week was persistent lack of resources, including water and staffing, within the overwhelmed fire department, whose ranks have dwindled in recent years.
“We had more firefighters on duty in 1971 than we do today, yet our population doubled,” Lima told NBC News. “Our call load has increased fivefold per day. Our members are being run into the ground.”
Amid ongoing tensions over how the fires were handled, Mayor Karen Bass ousted Fire Chief Kristin Crowley last week.
The decision was made “in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department,” Bass said in a statement.
“We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch,” Bass said.
On Thursday, Crowley appealed the decision, she said in a statement obtained by NBC Los Angeles.
The blame game has been constant since January.
When Trump viewed the destruction two weeks after the fires, he initially expressed shock and then pointed the finger at California Democratic leaders for failing to address the state’s ongoing wildfire threat.
Trump argued that wildlife protections have impeded access to water in California and then suggested he could withhold disaster aid over disagreements about voter ID laws and water policies.
Lima said Thursday: “Federal aid should not come with strings attached. Our firefighters and this community and the state need federal support.”
A recent economic impact study estimated total damages of the Palisades and Eaton fires will top $53 billion. The study, released by the nonprofit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, listed “federal funding uncertainty” as a primary recovery challenge.
Padilla has repeatedly questioned the Trump administration’s approach to distributing disaster aid. He pushed Doug Burgum, who is now the interior secretary, at his confirmation hearing on the question of whether conditions should be placed on aid.
“Each situation is different,” Burgum said.
Padilla countered that there had never been strings attached to disaster relief.
“And I certainly hope this is not the first case,” he said.
