Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva discusses the local response to ‘devastating’ California wildfires on ‘The Big Money Show.’
As raging fires ravage California, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, wealthy business magnate Elon Musk announced that SpaceX will supply free Starlink terminals to impacted areas in Los Angeles.Â
He made the announcement when retweeting footage of a reporter crediting Starlink internet service with connectivity.Â
The reporter said that Starlink is “the only reason we’re able to hear and communicate with you guys right now because there’s absolutely no cell service at all in this whole area.”
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DEVASTATE LOS ANGELES COUNTY, KILLING 5 AND THREATENING THOUSANDS OF HOMES
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has asked Musk to utilize his money and social media platform X to assist poor families whose residences and workplaces have been destroyed amid the devastating wildfires.
Swalwell made the comments after Musk shared a video, which he said a friend in Los Angeles had taken, that featured footage of some of the destruction.
“This is so sad. Elon, I believe you want to help as much as I do. I’ll use my post on Homeland Security Committee to have an open mind re: concerns over fire cause/response,” Swalwell said when responding to the video Musk shared.Â
“Can you use this platform and your money to help poorer families who lost their homes/workplaces?” the congressman asked.
SWALWELL SLAMMED ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR QUESTIONING HOW TRUMP WILL LOWER GROCERY PRICES
Left: Rep. Eric Swallwell, D-Calif., in the O’Neill House Office Building on Feb. 28, 2024, in Washington, D.C.; Right: Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Musk has claimed that wildfires in the Golden State could have been prevented, but regulations get in the way of taking steps to prevent the infernos.
“These fires are easily avoidable, but nonsense regulations in California prevent action being taken, so year after year homes burn down and more people die,” Musk declared in a post on X.
“My friend just texted me that his house burned down again. His old house also burned down in an uncontrolled wildfire several years ago. California could easily stop these massive wildfires, but refuses to put in fire breaks for bogus environmental reasons,” he said in a separate post.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES RAGE ACROSS LOS ANGELES COUNTY, FORCING THOUSANDS TO EVACUATE THEIR HOMES
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on Oct. 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pa. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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In another post he asserted that “crazy environmental regulations prevent building fire breaks and clearing brush near houses,” which “allows massive fires to get going.”