By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At least five people are dead as wildfires continue to wreak havoc in residential areas surrounding Los Angeles, CA.
Strong, gusty winds paired with extremely dry conditions have allowed the fires to burn through more than 25,000 acres, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
So far, the fires have burned more than 1,000 structures and have left more than one million residents without power as of Wednesday.
President Biden, who was in Los Angeles since Monday, has called on residents in the impacted areas to “remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials.”
“We’re prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct, make sure we get to normal,” said Biden Wednesday.
Leaders on Capitol Hill say Congress will be ready to provide aid for impacted areas.
“We will evaluate requests that are made from the governor of California, as well as likely from the current administration. And we’re prepared to act quickly and stay in Washington as long as necessary in order to get that emergency relief out to the families who are in harm’s way in California,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D- NY) Wednesday morning.
The Los Angeles area home of Vice President Kamala Harris was put under an evacuation order Tuesday night. In a statement early Wednesday morning, Harris said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) quickly approved a fire management assistance grant to help reimburse the state for immediate firefighting costs.
