BURSTLos Angeles officials on Wednesday warned against looting amid deadly wildfires raging in the area.
“In the midst of the emergency, we’ve all seen individuals who are targeting vulnerable communities by burglarizing and looting homes,” Kathryn Barger, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said during a press conference in the morning.
“This is simply unacceptable,” she added. “You’ll be hearing from our [Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman] shortly regarding his efforts to hold these [individuals] accountable, and I promise you, you will be held accountable. Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis.”
Barger added later that 20 people had been arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as of Thursday.
The multiple wildfires that have been burning in the Los Angeles area in the last few days have devastated the region. On Thursday, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell said on CNN that over 1,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged from both the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires.
“We know that there’s going to be lots of families that are going to be in great need,” she said.
Beyond the fires’ destruction, they have also resulted in a political feud between President-elect Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newson (D).
Newsom received criticism from Trump on Wednesday over the fires blazing throughout the Los Angeles area, with the president-elect saying the California governor should have signed a declaration to pump additional water through the Golden State to avert the situation.
“People are literally fleeing,” Newsom told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview later Wednesday. “People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down.”
“This guy wanted to politicize it,” he added, talking about Trump. “I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won’t.”