Kamala Harris tours wildfire-ravaged Palisades area
FILE PHOTO (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
LOS ANGELES – Former Vice President Kamala Harris — a Brentwood resident — toured the devastation left by the Palisades Fire Thursday then greeted firefighters, elected leaders and other local officials in Westwood to offer her thanks for their efforts in response to the blaze.
“I do believe that in these moments of crisis, the heroes and the angels among us are revealed,” Harris said at a relief center established at the Westwood Recreation Center.
“When I think about the work that is happening because of the leaders who are here and the folks who work with them, it truly is the best of who we are as a country — which is individuals understanding the power that they have to lift up the condition of other people.”
Harris said extreme weather conditions have become “far more frequent than we have historically been used to” and highlight the importance of federal, state and local partnership among agencies and individuals.
Harris previously toured the Eaton Fire burn area in Altadena on Jan. 20, after she officially left office and returned to Los Angeles from Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, recently appointed US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin was also in the LA area Thursday, touring both the Eaton and Palisades fire burn zones.
“It’s impossible to fathom,” Zeldin told KNX News after viewing the Eaton Fire area. “No American has ever seen anything like this ever before, and hopefully no American will ever have to see something like this ever again.”
He said his agency “has been proudly doing everything in our power” to complete the Phase 1 clearance of hazardous materials from the burn zones, with the agency trying to meet a goal of finishing the work in 30 days.
“We set a 30-day goal. We’re doing everything we can to possibly meet it.”
Once the Phase 1 hazardous materials work is finished on individual properties, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will expand its Phase 2 clearance of fire debris from properties, clearing the way for residents and businesses to begin rebuilding efforts. (CNS)
