At present, the fires have claimed at least 10 lives, though officials warn that the number could increase as high winds are forecasted to exacerbate the situation.
Firefighters face an uphill battle against the relentless firestorm, compounded by dwindling water supplies.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that by 3am on Wednesday, all three of its one million-gallon water tanks in Pacific Palisades, which supply fire hydrants, were empty.
During discussions in Washington about the federal response to the crisis, President Biden’s choice of words drew criticism.
On Thursday, Biden told participants twice to ‘fire away’, which startled those present in the Roosevelt Room.
Addressing Vice President Kamala Harris, a Californian, he said, “Madam Vice President, I know you’re directly affected, so you fire away.”
Upon noticing her surprise, Biden quickly added, “No pun intended,” eliciting some laughter from the audience.
Shortly thereafter, he used the phrase again with US Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, saying, “Chief, why don’t you fire away?”
He seemed to repeat the phrase at least twice more during the meeting.
On Twitter, the President’s remarks were met with strong disapproval, with users describing them as ‘disgraceful’, ‘despicable’, and ‘disgusting’.
Despite the backlash, President Biden assured that the federal government would fully support California’s efforts to combat the fires with complete financial assistance for 180 days.
However, he criticized local power companies for the power outages and commended Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, following criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, who called for Newsom’s resignation, blaming the fires on him.
Biden stated, “What I know from talking to the governor [is] that there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage.
“The fact is, the utilities understandably shut off power because they’re worried the lines that carry energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires.
“There’s a direct correlation between the utility company and the ability to pump water out of a hydrant. And so it allows for a lot of uninformed people to make assertions or concerns or accusations about the local officials not caring or not working.”
These comments came after two local electricity providers denied responsibility for the hydrants running out of water, asserting that power outages did not impact water pumps and flows, as reported by the New York Times.
Biden also faced criticism the previous day for sharing the news of becoming a great-grandfather during a visit to a fire station in Santa Monica.