By Katherine Tinsley
11:33am PST, Feb 28, 2025
According to NBC 4 Los Angeles, the natural disaster caused over $53.8 billion in damage to the city.
Former California Governor Gray Davis, who is the SCLC co-chair, discussed the next steps in a digital news conference.
"Speed matters in the recovery process… particularly from an economic perspective," Davis said. "Job No. 1 is to help people rebuild and get back to their new homes.
Southern California has a history of wildfires due to the lack of rainfall, but politicians are preparing for how to prevent more destruction moving forward.
"We have to learn the lessons of this fire and previous fires," the attorney continued. "We have to build homes better… so we don't repeat this terrible tragedy. Let's learn the lessons."
Gavin Newsom has been notifying the public about the next steps for rehabilitating
Los Angeles County.
"Securing critical disaster aid for the survivors of the Los Angeles fires and ensuring impacted families who lost their homes and livelihoods have the support they need to rebuild and recover," Newsom's office told
Newsweek.
Newsom acknowledged how challenging repairing dilapidated neighborhoods will be.
"This is twice as fast as the Woolsey Fire debris removal," Newsom said, in reference to the 2018 fires in Los Angeles County.
"I want to thank all of our state partners; I want to thank the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and their representatives for doing an extraordinary job to date," Newsom said before extending gratitude for
President Donald Trump.
Due to the amount of resources lost, the Democrat hopes to quickly help Californians.
"As we approach one month since the devastating wildfires across Southern California, we continue to cut red tape to speed up recovery and clean up efforts as well as ensure rebuilding efforts are swift," Newsom stated.
Despite their political differences, Trump and Newsom are working together to better serve the West Coast.
"This is a massive effort," Newsom noted.
