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.”
California Fire: Essential phone numbers for Los Angeles area residents and how to help them
Patricia Heaton criticized the government's response to the Los Angeles fires. (Getty Images)
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 overwhelmed.' Well, if there was a major fire, of course it would burn down.” she told FOX News Digital. “We should know that and we should be prepared for it. So I think there's a lot of money being spent in L.A. and we don't understand where it's being spent.”
WATCH: Actress Patricia Heaton says 'we can't rely on the government' after Los Angeles fires destroy city
Heaton argued that Californians “can't just trust the government to take care of things.”
“It's about people coming together in the community and advocating to get things done. And sadly, that's 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.
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Patricia Heaton moved from Hollywood to Nashville. (Getty Images)
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've stepped up. They've shown up. We've been advocating,” LA Dream Center founder Matthew Barnett told Fox News Digital about the celebrity support. “There are people like Snoop Dogg the other day, I've never met him in my life, but he posted a minute and a half on Instagram that I was just talking to. He did.”
LA Dream Center founder Matthew Barnett told FOX News Digital that Dwayne Johnson, Kathie Lee Gifford and Chris Pratt have donated to LA Dream Center to help with fire relief efforts. (Kar-wai Tan/WireImages | Getty Images)
WATCH: Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Snoop Dogg rescue LA Dream Center during fire
LA Dream Center It typically serves as a resource center focused on “providing assistance to those affected by homelessness, hunger, and lack of education” through community programs, according to its website.
Amid multiple fires in Los Angeles, the charity has shifted gears.
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Patricia Heaton is known for her role on the television comedy “Everybody Loves Raymond.'' (Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times)
Heaton once called Los Angeles home, but 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.”
“It's filling up,” Heaton noted. “And I have a hunch that after this fire, we will also get a ton of talented and creative people… who will decide enough is enough and live in beautiful places with friendly people. They're ready to 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.
A person walks through the destruction left by the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 9. (AP/Jae C. Hong)
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On January 8th, a house burned in the Eaton Fire in Altadena. (AP Photo/Nick Cooley)
Number of people who lost their homes due to disaster los angeles fireIt started with the Palisades fire on January 7th and has continued 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.
An air tanker drops flame retardant during efforts to extinguish the Eaton Fire in Altadena on January 13. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
