Desperate Los Angeles A mother confronted California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday about the fires raging in the city, demanding answers about why fire hydrants are empty and what he will do to fix the communities that have been reduced to ashes.
Pacific Palisades resident Rachel Darvish ran toward the governor as he prepared to get into a black SUV after seeing some of the damage after several fires ravaged the once-picturesque neighborhood known for its charming homes and panoramic waterfront views.
“Governor! I live here, Governor! It was my daughter’s school, what are you going to do,” Darvish, wearing a white industrial-style mask, said in footage captured by Sky News.
A Los Angeles resident confronted California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday about the wildfires raging in the city, demanding answers about why hydrants are empty and what he will do to fix communities that have been reduced to ashes. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images, left, Sky News, top right, Eric Thayer/Getty Images, bottom right.)
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The quietly speaking Newsom then says he “literally talked to the president” to find out what he and President Biden could serve Darvish and her daughter.
“Can I hear, can I hear your call? Because I don’t believe it!” Darvish said, waving her hand with deep skepticism.
“I tried five times, so I’m walking around to make a call,” Newsom replied, saying he had no cell phone coverage and was trying to reach Biden.
“I’m devastated for you, I’m so sorry, especially for your daughter,” he apologizes Newsom said.
Darvish suggested they get cell service together, and she wanted to be there when Newsom contacted Biden, noting that local schoolchildren had lost everything. She was looking for answers as to why there was not enough water in the hydrants to put out the deadly flames.
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“Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor? Will it be different next time?” she asked.
“It has to be, it has to be, of course,” Newsom replied.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m doing everything I can,” the governor said. – I will do everything I can.
“Fill the hydrants. I’d fill them myself, you know that,” Darvish said before raising her voice, “I’d fill the hydrants myself. Would you do it?”
Newsom said he would do whatever it took, but Darvish shot back and said, “But you didn’t!”
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tour the Pacific Palisades Central Business District on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass have faced harsh criticism over the city’s lack of preparedness and its ability to contain the flames.
Newsom met with Biden on Wednesday to brief him on the multiple inferno situations raging across California. The president approved a major disaster declaration for the Golden State and made the announcement Thursday federal government would pay “100%” of fire-related disaster response costs for 180 days.
Later Thursday, Darvish appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” and clarified that it appeared Newsom was trying to call the president.
A firefighter works at the scene of a brush fire in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California on January 7, 2025. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
“I saw the call log. I saw it wasn’t the first number there, but I know he was trying. So I saw he was trying. I saw the White House number.”
However, she questioned why the state governor was relying on network coverage amid the state of emergency.
“There was no cell phone reception in certain areas, okay, but that’s a big problem in itself. Why doesn’t he have a satellite truck with a cell phone?” Darvish said, noting that she was in the satellite truck doing an interview with Watters.
Darvish said it’s time for Californians to start choosing elected leaders who are fit for the job, rather than voting along party lines.
“You know, these guys are rooted in what they’re doing and I think it’s … time for something new. It doesn’t have to be R, it doesn’t have to be D. Why can’t it be somebody who knows what they’re doing, who knows how to plan? Ask Mom, that’s all we do.”
She said she felt abandoned in the city and no one came to her aid as the blazing flames approached her home.
A restaurant in Pacific Palisades burned down Tuesday. (Michael Ho Wai Lee / Sipa via AP)
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“This last one [fire] it was so strange not to see any — not to see any fire trucks, not to see any person who came up to me from an official position, came up to me and said, here, we’re here to help you. You have to go.
I left the house after I got the fire notification, I packed up and left because fire he was right there. As I was going down, I didn’t see a single fire truck coming to help me.”
She added that it is not the firefighters’ fault, but because the orders “come from the top”.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
