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Officials investigate origins of devastating Los Angeles wildfires

Stakeholders want to know how the fires started — and what went wrong with efforts to put them out.

As wildfires continue to devastate the Los Angeles area, investigators are working to find out how they started and what may have worsened the situation. (Scripps News)

By: Simon Kaufman , Alexandra Miller

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As wildfires continue to devastate the Los Angeles area, investigators are working to find out how they started and what may have worsened the situation.

"No one has an understanding fully yet of what caused these fires, beyond just hurricane force winds," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Sunday. "Was it a utility line? Who's responsible? Was it arson? All those things are being determined."

As of now, there has been no indication of arson or utility lines sparking the fires.

"We're looking at everything," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said on Monday. "We're working together, and we expect to find answers."

But right now, there are still more questions.

One question includes why a 117-million-gallon reservoir was out of service last week, as some fire hydrants ran dry.

Newsom ordered state officials to look into that.

There are also still dueling narratives about funding for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Last year, the Los Angeles City Council approved Mayor Karen Bass' budget for 2024-25 which included cutting over $17 million in funding to the fire department. Later last year, the council approved $53 million dollars in raises for firefighters and $58 million for new fire trucks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We took a $17 million budget cut, and as we know, any budget cut would negatively impact our ability to carry out our mission," Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said in an interview last week. "Right now, we need to be fully, fully funded and supported so that our firefighters can do their jobs."

But Bass says any debate over the budget should wait until after crews contain these fires.

"When we are past this period, there will be an evaluation of everything that went on and at that point in time, we will see there is not agreement as to whether or not the budget was cut," Bass said on Monday. "All of those issues will be resolved when we are clear that Los Angelenos are safe and we are ready to rebuild our city."