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The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) disclosed it was struggling to implement a massive $48.8 million budget cut forced on it by the city’s Democrat mayor, Karen Bass, just days before catastrophic wildfires broke out earlier this week. A leaked January 6 department memo states the LAFD believed a worst-case budget scenario—meaning no relief from the mayor—would result in the closure of upward of 16 fire stations. On January 8, several major wildfires broke out in the greater Los Angeles metro area and quickly raged out of control. In a matter of days, the fires have burned tens of thousands of acres, and the largest two—in Pacific Palisades and Altadena—remain zero percent contained.