Within the US Embassy in Ghana, Mayor Karen Bass was attending receptions with local and foreign officials when her phone began pinging.
The first urgent message came from her deputy chiefs of staff, Celine Cordero.
It was a devastating day in Africa in Africa, at 6:48pm on January 7th, just before 11am.
“We’re currently on the phone with Chief Crowley,” Cordero wrote from LA, referring to a group chat that includes Bass and two of her closest aides, the vice-mayor of Communications and the vice-mayor of Zack Seidl, Carolyn Webb de Masias. “There are two important fires in the city right now. She calls you mayor.”
Bass is more than 7,500 miles from Los Angeles and was attending the Ghanaian president’s inauguration that day as part of the Biden administration delegation.
She was set to leave Accra, Ghana’s capital, in a few hours.
The wind was bad at home in Los Angeles.
Fire was shining across the Pacific Palace Mount, smoke gathering over the bone-dried ridgeline. Within hours, the flames destroyed wealthy coastal communities, eventually killing 12 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Cordero warned of 40 mph winds and “potential evacuation” that “were affected by 100 acres in the next 20 minutes.”
Back in diplomatic compounds, the bass – dressed in a red dress and matching shoes – leaned forward and smiled as he spoke to former German President Christian Wolf, who was taken in a photo posted on social media.
Bass had called many of the party in another room, her staff said. Just before taking photos with city staff and local DJs, Bass received another emergency text from Cordero. This time, the Cordero included a wider group of senior mayoral aides.
“The Palisade fire is currently 200 acres,” she wrote, noting that an evacuation order will be issued soon.
Bass’ text messages during his last hours in Ghana on January 7th and January 8th and his uneasy trip offer a clear glimpse into how he led from afar in a defining chapter in Los Angeles history. Her handling of fire and its aftermath will shape the prospects of reelection and her legacy.
The Democratic leader in the country’s second largest city avoided stinging criticism of her first absence and her weak leadership during the crisis. Bass and her relationship was public.
The Times obtained the message through a request for public records filed on January 10th. Almost two months later, the mayor’s office said “there are no responsive records,” and later clarified the Bass message every 30 days.
The mayor’s office said it could ultimately use “specialist techniques” to recover deleted messages, providing about 125 messages on Friday, saying an unspecified number of additional messages have been “edited and/or withheld” under the California Public Records Act exemption.
A message from the mayor shows how the bus communicated across her staff and government levels, explosively attempting to adorn federal resources into what became one of the most expensive natural disasters in US history.
They also show Angeleno desperately trying to get home as the ground crisis worsened.
The following timeline is based on itinerary obtained through text messages, public record requests, and flight records from FlightAware and Flightradar24. Her emails and calls are not included, so it is just a partial explanation of the mayor’s deal.
From 8pm to 8:30pm, the Biden delegation (including Bus and Anvilbars) travels with her, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, but was busy with official vehicles and headed to Kotoka International Airport, where military jets were waiting.
Cordero was tasked with overseeing public safety in the absence of Vice Mayor Brian Williams.
Her next text came at 8:07pm or just after midday Los Angeles Time.
“Crowley said the house would be lost soon,” Coldero wrote, saying Gov. Gavin Newsom would be on the Command Post in a few hours.
“Please call me Zack right away,” Bus wrote 20 minutes later.
The mass of the inhabitants had it, like crazy to escape from the flames. A radio reporter reaches out to Bass and tries to get her to join him in the air as the plane is ready to take off.
For the next four hours, Gulfstream jets cruised northwest over West Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, towards the small archipelago of Cape Verde.
Bass repeatedly reminded her staff that she can make calls from military flights.
“I can access the phone on the plane!!! If you see the strange numbers, it’s me! 301 it’ll be displayed as a military base,” the bus texted the group at 9:48pm in Ghana.
A few minutes later, Cordero asked the group text Bass for permission to organize the city’s general managers’ meeting.
“It’s great to have GM calls come together and join in. The urgency of stress, the importance of all hands on the deck?” Cordero said.
An hour and a half later, Bass appears to be on the phone or zooming with the staff, writing, “I don’t know why you can’t tell me.”
“Listen!” she corrected herself.
“Ah, no! I understand. No, we can’t hear you,” replied Cordero.
Back in Los Angeles, Crowley, Newsom, City Council President Markey Harris Dawson and other local leaders bravely confronted the wind for Will Rogers State Beach. Bass went abroad and Harris-Dawson was acting mayor.
The worst may not have arrived yet, officials warned.
The rest of the Bass and Biden delegation stopped for about 40 minutes to refuel at Cape Verde and took off for an eight-hour flight to Andrews’ joint base in Maryland.
L.A. Time at 1am or 5pm in Ghana – Director of Scheduling Yvette Rojas sent a link to Zoom entitled “GM Meeting -Fires.”
“Mayor, I don’t know if you can land,” Rojas wrote. “I can still take part in this,” Bass called out to a general manager’s meeting from the plane, her office said.
Five minutes later, Bass executive assistant Pamela Brown texted that he was able to make the live CNN work so that the mayor could stream.
Bus phones continued to buzz as the plane crossed the Atlantic in the darkness of the sky and dusk began to fall over Los Angeles.
“The fire is terrible. Please tell me anything I can do to help,” wrote Sen. Adam Schiff, a former colleague of Bass, after 2:30am, Ghana time.
“Thank you so much to be actually back home from Ghana. I think I said I was attending the inauguration ceremony while I was back home, but I know that disaster aid is needed, especially given the challenges of homeowners insurance in this particular neighborhood.
Schiff’s California Sen. Alex Padilla contacted Bass a few minutes later.
“Karen, I’m incredibly busy you are right now. I just want to check in. My staff is in touch with the OES, Calfire and other emergency personnel.
“Thanks Alex I’m actually on a rushing plane from Africa I should be in town by noon tomorrow. Thank you millions I’d like to call you in a day or so.
Danko, vice-director of President Biden’s White House Intergovernmental Affairs Bureau, was the next federal leader to provide support. He was one of the senior White House staff members who texted on base as they cruised towards the East Coast.
Meanwhile, things were getting worse in Los Angeles.
“All aircraft were grounded due to wind and visibility… Multiple civilian victims were injured (#TBD),” Koldero wrote at 5:27am in Ghana or 9:30pm in Los Angeles.
Bass immediately answered Koh. “Thank you for asking me if I was back in DC and LA and on a plane.
At 10pm on LA Time or just before 6am in Ghana, LA County superintendent Kathryn Burger texted Bass.
“I’m just thankful, and I’m in the air of coming back from Ghana and plus this I won’t be home until 11am,” replied the bus.
“The fire is currently in Altadena… so please request one press conference in downtown. Have a safe trip,” Burger said in prayer emojis on behalf of an area that is devastated by the Eton Fire.
Bass thanked her and checked to make sure Burger had gotten full cooperation from the “people” from Bass.
“Absolutely… the city was incredible,” replied Berger.
Within minutes, Cordero dropped a disastrous new update from the Los Angeles Fire Department into Bass group text.
The winds increased significantly, with gusts of the Palisades exceeding 70 mph. The fire department is essentially a life-saving mode, and at this point the structure is a secondary concern. ”
4 hours later – 5:20am Maryland time, January 8th – Base landed at Andrews’ joint base in that state.
She and the police officer Burlas travelling with her jumped on a car provided by the White House and took a 45-mile trek to Dulles International Airport.
In Dulles, she boarded United Airlines Flight 667. This is because it is a commercial service. The plane left the gate at 8:42am ET and took off just before 9:15am.
Almost an hour after the flight, Bass received a lengthy message from Janisse Quiñones, chief executive of LA Water and Power.
Quy Nwon apologised for missing bus phones and told the mayor that he could allow higher water pressure on the frontline of the fire.
However, she said DWP was able to open a refill station for the fire engine and sent all the water trucks to Palisade.
The bus said it was great news.
Soon in a row, Bass’ Phone was pinged with messages from several senior Biden advisors.
Like Kiñon, she told them that she would land in just a few hours on her way home to each.
“Great,” replied Annie Tomasini, Biden’s vice-chief of staff. “We’re leaving LA this morning, but if you need anything, let’s stay in touch for the next few hours. You’re in our thoughts, especially President Biden.”
“Thank you so much. Please let the president know how much he is grateful for him and his leadership,” Bass told Tomasini.
In Los Angeles, the sun was rising over a neighbourhood where flames became brutal. Smoke lends artificial darkness and cinematic quality to light in areas far from the fire.
At 9:30am, there was another two hours left on the flight, and the mayor heard from her vice-Chief of Staff, Solomon Rivera.
“AEG called with the cancellation of Kings Game Tonite in mind. We think we should encourage all large gatherings to be cancelled,” Rivera wrote. Bass agreed.
Just after 10am, bass took a text photo of the LA Unified School District Supt. Alberto Carvalho was in competition.
“How are you? I’m still in the open space at LAX for the next two hours. I’m sorry about Parisard HS, as I can’t believe it!!! Are other dangerous schools closed out of preventive measures? I can’t believe it!” bass wrote.
Ten minutes later, Carvalho replied: “Hello Mayor. We’re fine. The sudden change overnight was difficult, but we managed it.”
After 30 minutes, Bass’Flight will land at Los Angeles International Airport and may navigate through heavy smoke before arriving at the gate at 11:24am
By that point, Bass had traveled nearly 24 hours a day.
Shortly after she emerged from the plane, she happened to be on her flight.
She stared vaguely for almost a minute to cut a question about whether she needed to apologise to Angelenos for being in Africa.
She didn’t respond.
Times staff writer Laura Nelson contributed to this report.
