CBS News published a fact check disputing statements made by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during a mayoral debate with Spencer Pratt, concluding that wind conditions during the opening hours of the Palisades Fire were lower than Bass claimed.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
CBS News issued a fact check following a contentious Los Angeles mayoral debate that disputed comments made by Mayor Karen Bass regarding wind conditions during the early stages of the 2025 Palisades Fire, a wildfire that destroyed thousands of structures and killed 12 people.
The debate exchange centered on criticism from media personality and mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, who argued that city officials mishandled the response to the wildfire and incorrectly attributed the scale of the disaster primarily to extreme weather conditions.
According to a report published by Breitbart News, Pratt challenged Bass during the debate over claims involving wind speeds at the start of the fire.
“A lot of people talk about climate change and hurricane-force winds,” Pratt said during the exchange. “The winds in the Pacific Palisades never reached higher than 40 mph. For those first six hours, they didn’t go above 27 miles per hour.”
Bass responded by disputing Pratt’s characterization of the weather conditions.
“He talked about the winds — that is just completely inaccurate,” Bass said. “If that were accurate, then the planes would have been able to fly. And so if the winds reached close to 100 miles an hour and the planes were unable to fly.”
Pratt then accused Bass of conflating conditions between separate wildfire incidents.
“Yes, she mentioned me. So this is — she’s an incredible liar,” Pratt said. “Everyone on their phones, Google it. 40 weather stations in the Pacific Palisades. It never went above 40 miles per hour. She is referencing the Altadena fire.”
A debate moderator interrupted Pratt during the exchange, instructing him to avoid personal attacks.
CBS News later reviewed weather data tied to the fire and published a fact check supporting Pratt’s core claim regarding the initial wind conditions.
“Weather modeling reviewed for my reporting shows winds in the Palisades during those first several hours of the fire were, in fact under 40 miles per hour,” CBS News stated in its analysis. “Planes could and did fly. Stronger winds intensified later in the evening. And that distinction matters because the earliest hours of a wildfire are often the most critical for containment.”
The Palisades Fire became one of the defining issues in the Los Angeles mayoral race after destroying nearly 7,000 structures and leaving widespread damage across portions of the city.
The debate exchange and subsequent fact check have drawn attention because national media organizations are rarely seen publicly disputing claims made by Democratic incumbents during campaign events, particularly in high-profile municipal races.
Video of the exchange circulated widely online following the debate, further intensifying scrutiny surrounding Bass’s wildfire response and public statements about the disaster.
The controversy also renewed public discussion about emergency preparedness, aerial firefighting decisions, and whether weather conditions during the earliest stages of the blaze allowed for more aggressive containment efforts before winds strengthened later in the day.
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