With Mayor Karen Bass far from L.A., Rick Caruso, her opponent in the 2022 election, swept in to fill the gap, blasting the city's handling of the wildfires.

Mayor Karen Bass joined Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla to survey damage in Pacific Palisades following her return to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Bass was seen walking the streets of Pacific Palisades, where more than 15,000 acres have burned and roughly 1,000 structures destroyed since the Palisades fire began Tuesday evening.