Patricia Heaton blasted California leadership, claiming officials “dropped the ball” when it came to responding to the Los Angeles fires.
Heaton, who is working with the Los Angeles Dream Center to help residents in need, said in an interview with FOX News Digital that city leaders are unprepared and are giving up taxpayer money. He said he was wondering where he had disappeared to.
The “Everybody Loves Raymond” star called for a change after “a very tough lesson.”
Heaton explained that the city of Los Angeles appears unprepared for the fire, which started on January 7 in the Pacific Palisades area. Since then, multiple fires have broken out in different parts of the star-studded city, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. The actress emphasized the need for forest management and actual water-filled reservoirs.
“I know some officials were saying, 'The system is blown.' Well, if there was a major fire, of course it would be wiped out,” she said. He told FOX News Digital. “You should know that and be prepared for it. So I think there's a lot of money being spent in L.A., but you don't know where it's being spent.”
Heaton argued that Californians “cannot just rely on the government to figure things out.”
“It's people coming together in communities and insisting on getting things done. And sadly, this is a very, very, very tough lesson.”
“But I think that's what it takes to break through the bureaucracy and get the government to do what it needs to do, which is to first and foremost provide infrastructure,” Heaton said.
Heaton is working with LA Dream Center on disaster relief efforts, but she's not alone. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Chris Pratt have all donated items and money to charities working to help those affected by the Los Angeles fires.
“They stepped up. They showed up. We've been doing advocacy,” LA Dream Center founder Matthew Barnett told FOX News Digital about the celebrity support. “There are people like Snoop Dogg the other day, who I've never met in my life, but he posted a minute and a half on Instagram just talking to me. Thank you.”
According to its website, the LA Dream Center typically serves as a resource center focused on “providing assistance to those affected by homelessness, hunger, and lack of education” through community programs.
Amid multiple fires in Los Angeles, the charity has shifted gears.
Although Heaton once called Los Angeles home, she knows moving to Nashville, Tennessee, was the “right decision” for her.
“My four sons still live in Los Angeles and go back to play with them and attend meetings,” she told FOX News Digital. “And we have a lot of friends there and do business there, but Nashville seems to welcome a lot of people from our industry. So we made this decision. It’s not just me.”
Stay up to date with NYP's coverage of horrific fires in the Los Angeles area
“It's filling up,” Heaton noted. “And I have a hunch that after this fire, we're going to get another ton of talented and creative people who decide they've had enough and go to beautiful places with friendly people. They're ready to live. They can be creative without worrying about their house burning down, taxes going up, crime, etc.”
Heaton helped friends who were forced to evacuate in Los Angeles and opened his home in Nashville for people looking to “escape” from the city.
The number of people who have lost their homes in the Los Angeles fires that began with the Palisades fire on January 7 continues to rise. Multiple fires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed 24 people.
Wildfires that broke out last week were largely blamed on Santa Ana's ferocious winds and devastated entire areas around the country's second-largest city. There has been no significant rainfall in this city for more than eight months.
Four fires broke out in less than a week, engulfing more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area roughly three times the size of Manhattan.
