LA mayor calls wildfire fire response one of the 'fastest' rebuilding efforts in California history

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LA mayor calls wildfire fire response one of the 'fastest' rebuilding efforts in California history

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized for slow rebuilding efforts on more than 16,200 destroyed structures

Lindsay Kornick Fox News

Published

January 6, 2026 9:00pm EST

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LA mayor calls wildfire recovery efforts 'fastest' California has ever seen

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass praised recovery efforts one year after the deadly Palisades wildfires despite thousands of structures remaining unbuilt.

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that recovery efforts after the Palisades fire in 2025 were some of the fastest in California history despite months of criticism.

Bass reflected on the massive wildfires that engulfed her city one year ago on the "At Our Table" podcast with Jaime Harrison on Tuesday.

"If you look at Hawaii, Hawaii right now, those fires were two years ago," Bass said. "And they have about 300 homes that are being rebuilt. We have more than 300 homes being rebuilt in the Palisades right now."

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Mayor Karen Bass defended Los Angeles' recovery efforts after deadly wildfires in January. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images; Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

She continued, "Now having said that, it's the holidays. People are still out of their homes. It doesn't make anybody feel wonderful for me to sit here and tell you that this is one of the fastest recovery and rebuilding efforts that the state of California has ever seen, and I'm proud of that. But I do have to acknowledge the grief, the suffering, and the pain that people have gone through."

Bass claimed that "opportunistic individuals" have "deliberately put out misinformation" and lies regarding the fires that have misled the public about Los Angeles' rebuilding efforts.

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The Los Angeles mayor went on to suggest that climate change played a larger role in the damage caused by the wildfires.

Firefighters watch Palisades Fire consume a home

The Palisades fire destroyed more than 16,200 structures in 2025. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

"I would make it more general," she said. "I would say that we as a nation and frankly as a planet, because we have not been responsible with our environment. We have to prepare ourselves for extreme weather events that we would have never thought about. I think about the floods that are happening right now in the Pacific Northwest. We see hurricanes happening at strengths that we had not seen before. So I don't think it's just fires. I think it is all extreme events like that, whether it's fires, floods, mudslides, I mean, you name it."

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Bass added, "But you know, that's one thing I'm really proud of about Los Angeles and California. Climate change is our way of life. It is not a controversy."

Fox News Digital reached out to Bass' office for comment.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaking at a press conference

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized over slow rebuilding efforts after the deadly wildfires. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Bass has faced a barrage of criticism over her handling of the deadly and destructive fires that ran through her city, including for her trip to Ghana for the swearing-in of its president when the fires first began.

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California's Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,200 structures in 2025. Construction has begun on fewer than 600 homes and businesses, less than 4% of the structures destroyed.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

LA mayor calls wildfire fire response one of the 'fastest' rebuilding efforts in California history