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LA Mayor Karen Bass awkwardly ignores questions from reporter about California fires

SACRAMENTO — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass awkwardly remained silent when she was questioned by a reporter at Los Angeles International Airport about the devastating fires. 

Video captured by Sky News shows a reporter repeatedly ignored by Bass for nearly two minutes. The mayor was in Africa when the Los Angeles County fires started.

"Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department by millions of dollars? Have you nothing to say today?" the reporter asked. 

At a press conference when she returned to Los Angeles County, she did respond to questions. 

"What explains this lack of preparation and rapid response?" one reporter at the press conference asked Bass. 

Bass responded, in part, "Let me just say first and foremost, my number one focus — and I think of all of us here, with one voice — is that we have to protect lives." 

Mayor Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were being questioned about state and local policies that may have changed the outcome of the L.A. County wildfires. 

"People are always looking to scapegoat somebody," said Doug Elmets, a Sacramento expert in crisis management. "I mean, it's a tragedy and it seems to me at this moment in time [that] everybody should come together to address the issue. There's always time to lay blame and that will come." 

A woman who said her daughter's school burned down ran up to Newsom on an L.A. County street to question him about his response to the fires.

An approximately two-minute back-and-forth exchange included the woman saying she didn't believe the governor when he told her he was talking with President Biden about how the federal government could help the region. 

Also this week, President-elect Donald Trump pointed the finger at Newsom to direct blame for the deadly fires.

A series of wildfires have devastated the Los Angeles area in just days. Thousands of structures have been destroyed and at least seven people have been killed. 

As of Thursday evening, more than 179,000 people were under evacuation orders while the combined burn area surpassed 54 square miles.

Correction: The story erroneously reported the interaction between the reporter and Mayor Karen Bass happened overseas. The story has been updated to reflect the interaction happened at LAX. 

By Steve Large, Richard Ramos: Updated on: January 10, 2025 / 1:26 PM PST / CBS Sacramento