The text exchanges show she struggled to communicate with her staff as she returned from a trip to Ghana. Investigative Reporter Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass exchanged text messages during the early hours of the Palisades Fire that showed she struggled to communicate with her staff as she returned from a trip to Ghana.
The messages, released by the Mayor's office in response to a California Public Records Act request, help to illustrate how she managed the city’s fire response remotely, while she was on board several flights after attending the inauguration of Ghana’s new president as part of a U.S. delegation.
On Jan. 7 at 11:20 p.m., the mayor texted her team after failing to connect on a conference call with the general managers of city departments. The Palisades Fire had started hours earlier at around 10:30 a.m. and was fanned by strong Santa Ana wind gusts to eventually become the third most destructive wildfire on record in California
“I’m listening. Don’t know why you can’t hear me,” Bass messaged.
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In response, one of her staffers said they could not hear her on their end.
By Tuesday night, when Bass struggled to speak with her team over the phone, the wildfire had grown to at least 2,900 acres with dangerous winds rapidly spreading the flames.
Then as the mayor got on the military plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean, she was finally able to make calls.
“If you see a strange number, it’s me,” Bass texted.
On Jan. 8, the mayor asked LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho about damage to schools as she was still in transit, and learned from Carvalho that it appeared two Palisades schools had been lost.
“OMG yes let’s connect when i’m back in town. Arriving soon. So sorry to hear,” Bass responded.
Also on Jan. 8, Bass was receiving messages from federal officials, including then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and staffers from the Biden Administration, who offered assistance.
Criticism mounted over Bass' decision to travel to Africa on the days intense winds were forecast, and after arriving in LA she said, "although I was not physically here, I was in contact with many of the individuals that are standing here throughout the entire time. I was on the phone, on the plane, almost every hour of the flight."
The text exchanges were first reported by the LA Times, which was initially told the messages had been destroyed then somehow recovered.
Bass said Thursday, after attending a hearing on the City's management of billions of dollars in homeless relief funding, that she was glad the messages had been recovered and shared with the public, as the interactions demonstrated that she was involved in decisions while in transit.
Bass told NBCLA’s Conan Nolan in an interview last month that her decision to leave LA was an error, especially when the trip didn’t involve city business with intense winds in the forecast.
