California asks US government for billions in fire relief funds

California Governor Gavin Newsom has asked the US federal government for $40 billion (£31.6b) in funds to help rebuild areas of Los Angeles devastated by January fires.

Newsom sent the request to congressional leaders in a letter on Friday. He said the funds would help both immediate and long-term recovery work.

“I’m asking Congress to have the back of the American people and provide disaster funding to help Californians recover and rebuild as soon as possible,” he wrote on social media.

The fires, which began 7 January, burned 37,469 acres and killed at least 26 people in the greater Los Angeles area.

The funds would be used for workforce recovery, tax incentives, wildfire resilience and private property redevelopment, Newsom said.

Under Newsom’s proposal, the largest share of the funds – 42% – would go to public assistance in debris removal and repair work.

“The impacted communities have experienced widespread devastation and the total impact on California’s economy will take years to fully qualify,” Newsom wrote in the letter.

Some 150,000 residents have been displaced since the fires broke out in early January.

Much of the Los Angeles area communities of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena were destroyed during the days of blazes.

The request drew support from some lawmakers who represent the area.

“This package will provide an injection of desperately needed federal aid for rebuilding homes, businesses, and community institutions, which will support the healing process for Angelenos suffering the grief and trauma of losing loved ones, homes, and every belonging they cherished,” Judy Chu, a Democratic congresswoman, said in a statement.

It’s not clear how the request will be received in Congress, where both chambers are controlled by Republicans with narrow majorities.

Last month, ahead of his visit to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump told Fox News he did not think the federal government should give California “anything” until it shifted water supply to the south of the state.

Following his visit to the Palisades, Trump described the destruction as “devastation”.

“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating is until you see it,” Trump said. “I mean, I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the size of it, we flew over it in a helicopter.”