The U.S. military is prepared to deploy to help contain the wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell said Sunday.
“There are active duty military personnel that are on a ‘prepare to deploy’ order, that are ready to go in and continue to support the firefighting effort,” in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Criswell said. “Those incident commanders at each of those command posts, they are going to know exactly what they need. And if they need anything else, we’re able to come in and support them.”
That includes 500 active duty Marines and 10 Naval helicopters, according to the Department of Defense.
When asked why the state hasn’t requested military assistance yet, Criswell said she would defer to the incident commanders, who “know what the needs are, where they need to put people.”
“And often, in these situations, it’s very strategic. It’s not necessarily about always putting more people on that,” she added. “We have to make sure that it’s safe. And, you know, you can only have so much aircraft in the space. And so, they would have the specifics about the strategies that they’re using, but we want to make sure that we’re not late to need, and if they have that need, they can move them in.”
Criswell said her “biggest concern” is that Los Angeles is “still in such a dangerous situation” as the wildfires rage on.
“The red flag warnings have been reissued. The winds are coming back. And we still want to make sure that people are in a safe place,” she said in a separate interview on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
“I know that that’s hard for so many because they want to get back in, they want to see their home, they want to see if there is anything left,” Criswell continued. “But this life safety piece, not just for them, but making sure that our firefighters don’t get hurt as well, that is the most important piece as they continue to try to contain this fire.”
Wind is a major concern. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said strong gusts of wind could spread the wildfires further in the next 48 hours.
“The challenge is the winds. We’ve got these winds coming back this evening, Sunday night. We’ve got peak winds on Monday. We’re going to see 50-plus mile-an-hour gusts, subject to change,” Newsom told “Meet the Press” Sunday in Altadena. “So now we’re pre-positioning assets. And we’re pre-positioning not just here in the theater, those existing five-plus fires, but now broadening that to a number of other counties and moving farther south with some of those resources in anticipation we could see some flare-ups in new places, new starts.”
“These winds change the dynamics of this fire, and so I’m concerned for the safety of our firefighters, concerned for their ability to continue to contain this fire, and I want people to make sure that they are listening closely to what local officials are saying, so they can stay safe and they can stay out of harm’s way,” FEMA’s Criswell said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.
Asked why officials have been unprepared to handle the fires, Criswell told Brennan “they were very prepared,” but “they have never seen 100-mile-an-hour winds that are fueling the fire, and those winds and that weather condition is what really impacts … where this fire is going to go.”
“And because it was in such a populated area, it just makes it that much more challenging to be able to get in there and secure the perimeter, but as well, try to save as many homes as possible,” Criswell added.
Criswell also warned affected Los Angeles residents against returning to their homes.
“I know that so many people probably want to get back into the area and check on their homes, but with the winds picking back up, it’s just, you never know which way they’re going to go,” she said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Eaton fire is 27% contained as of Sunday morning, NBC News reports, citing data from the Angeles National Forest branch of the U.S. Forest Service. The Palisades fire remains at 11% containment, according to Cal Fire.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed reporting.