Schiff supports 'independent commission review' of California wildfires

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said he supports an “independent commission review” of the wildfires scorching large parts of Los Angeles.

Schiff joined ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday to discuss the devastation in his area and among his constituents, noting the Los Angeles region looked like a war zone.

“We’ve had no shortage of fires in Southern California over the years that I’ve been in Congress,” Schiff, a former member of the House, said. “It has often been very idiosyncratic. You’ll see one house lost here, then the others fine around it. There is some of that here, but there are whole neighborhoods that are gone.”

“We haven’t seen that before, not in Southern California, not like this,” he added. “And so, the heartbreak is just overwhelming.”

Schiff said California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has called for an independent review of the lack of water in places like the Pacific Palisades and the water pressure issues seen in the Altadena neighborhood.

“I support that independent review. I think we should go further and, frankly, do an independent commission review of all of this,” Schiff said. “What went right in our response? What went wrong in it?”

Schiff said he was “deeply concerned” about erroneous evacuation alerts.

“If people can’t trust when they’re told you need to get out, that they do need to get out, then it not only severely impacts the whole effort, but people ignore the alerts, endangering themselves and endangering the firefighters that have to step between the fires and these civilians,” the senator said.

Schiff argued that the state will have to rebuild with a “sense of urgency.” Cleanup operations need to begin directly after the flames are out, he said.

“But the most urgency right now has to be reserved to putting down these flames. We have more high winds coming up in the next couple days,” he said. “So, for now, let’s focus on putting out these fires, saving lives, saving property, and then … let’s do the full analysis of what went wrong.”

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