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Actress Patricia Heaton is the latest celebrity to take aim at government officials in California for their response to the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area.
The Everybody Loves Raymond star is calling for change after accusing leaders of “dropping the ball,” noting how the city didn’t seem at all prepared for the fires, which first sparked on Jan. 7 in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood east of Malibu.
Since then, a swath of Los Angeles County has been affected, killing dozens and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
Heaton also called out the need for better forestry management and reservoirs actually being filled with water.
“You should know that and have been prepared for that,” she continued. “So, I think there’s a lot of money spent in L.A. and we can’t figure out where it’s going.”
Heaton went on to say that Californians “can’t just rely on the government to take care of things.”
She added: “It’s people coming together in your community and insisting on getting stuff done. And sadly, this is a very, very, very harsh lesson.”
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She continued: “But I guess that’s what it takes to kind of break apart that bureaucracy and get the stuff done that the government is supposed to do, which is take care of the infrastructure first and foremost.”
Heaton no longer lives in Los Angeles, but has helped out friends who had to evacuate and opened up her Nashville home for those looking to “get out” of the city.
“My four sons still live in L.A., and we go back to hang out and take meetings,” she told the outlet.
“And we have many friends there and are doing business there, but Nashville seems to be welcoming a lot of people from our industry. So I’m not the only one that made this decision.”
She explained that the city is already “filling up” with “talented, creative people” and predicts many more will follow.
“I have a feeling after this fire we’re going to get another huge amount… of talented, creative people who have decided they’ve had enough and are ready to live in a beautiful place with friendly people and where they can be creative without worrying about houses burning down and taxes going up and crime and all that stuff.”