LOS ANGELES — As multiple wildfires devastated the Los Angeles area for a second day, Mayor Karen Bass returned to the city Wednesday morning following a trip to Africa for the inauguration of Ghana's president — but her absence in the early stages of the crisis drew criticism, particularly from several of her political opponents.

During a news conference at 5 p.m., the mayor urged residents who receive an evacuation order to leave immediately and for those who receive a warning to prepare.

"We are fighting for you and everyone in Los Angeles," Bass said. "Thank you to our first responders who waited in the flames, pulled people from cars and got them to safety no matter how dangerous."

She called the emergency an active situation and urged the conservation of water, so it could be used if needed. Bass added, "make no mistake, Los Angeles will rebuild stronger than ever."

The city's strategy included preparations and pre-deployment, and now includes fire crews from the state, out-of-state, and from federal partners.

President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom assured the mayor of their full federal and state support as LA headed into the night.

"We are still facing strong and erratic winds in Palisades and in Sylmar," Bass said. "We are very much in an active fire fight."

She noted that the Woodley Fire in the Sepulveda Basin was under control. Air operations resumed, which marked a significant development in order to fight the fires.

"These conditions are highly volatile," Bass said. "We've seen a devastating fire in the Pasadena area. Fires sparked up in Simi Valley and on the L.A. and Ventura County lines."

"As our firefighters do battle on the front lines, all of us must be vigilant," Bass continued. "If you receive an evacuation order, please leave immediately, and if you receive a warning get ready."

According to the mayor, she remained in constant contact with fire commanders, as well as county, state and federal officials. Bass flew back on the "fastest route back" on a military plane, which allowed her to be on the phone the entire time of the flight.

The mayor had left for Ghana on Saturday and, according to her office, was in communication and kept up to date on the city's response to the fires. She arrived in Los Angeles by mid-day Wednesday.

Once she landed, she traveled to the Pacific Palisades to take note of the extent of the damage.

In a four-second video posted on X, Bass was seen speaking with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, alongside members of Cal Fire. Representatives from the mayor's office did not respond to numerous inquiries for further details on her arrival.

"The impact of these fires and winds are devastating. I just got off the phone with President Biden and discussed an urgent path forward toward recovery for the thousands of families impacted," Bass said on Wednesday's social-media post accompanying the video. "Thank you Gov. Newsom and Sen. Padilla for your continued support for our city."

Earlier in the day, during a news briefing that featured numerous regional elected officials and emergency personnel, Bass' Deputy Chief of Staff Celine Cordero reiterated the mayor had been "actively engaged 100% of the time, the entire last 24 hours throughout this unfortunate event and crisis."

"The mayor has been in constant communication with our chief of police, our fire chief, our council president, our law enforcement partners, our supervisor, and our county partners," Cordero added. "... She has had 100% access the entire time that she's been traveling and been actively involved in the decision-making."

LA City Council President/Mayor Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson was the highest-ranking city official to attend Wednesday's news briefing.

But her absence in the earlier stages drew criticism from, among others, billionaire businessman Rick Caruso, who lost the mayoral election to Bass in 2022.

"What is most concerning to me is, our first-responders and our firefighters who are trying to battle this — there's no water in the Palisades, there's no water coming out of the fire hydrants," Caruso said on Fox 11 Wednesday morning.

"This is an absolute mismanagement by the city. It's not the firefighters' fault. ... And I've got to be very honest, we've got a mayor that's out of the country and we've got a city that's burning and there's no resources to put out fires. ... It looks like we're in a Third World country here."

Caruso's criticisms also extended beyond Bass, as he added, "We've got a lot of tough questions that we need to ask the mayor and the City Council and our representatives and the county representatives.

"Why didn't you work to mitigate this? What was your brush mitigation program? ... The brush up in these hills that are controlled by the city and the county, I would bet you they haven't been handled, mitigated, pruned, removed for probably 30 or 40 years. This was a disaster waiting to happen, and what's predictable is preventable."

Bass addressed those concerns, describing the fires "absolutely unprecedented."

"Water remains available in the Palisades through hydrants, but also through water tankers that have been deployed," Bass said. "Claims that tanks weren't full are false."

She emphasized its important to receive accurate information, and that the internet is not always the best place to get accurate information.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO Janisse Quiñones said there were three water tanks where firefighters fought the Pacific Palisades Fire, but due to demands it drained resources.

"If you're fighting a wildfire with a fire hydrant system — fire hydrants are not made to fight fires on multiple houses, hundreds of houses at a time," Quiñones added.

Part of the challenge was also a drop in water pressure to fight flames in higher elevations — something the DWP is working on to increase water pressure and fill tanks.

She noted that 20% or about 200 fire hydrants in the Palisades were without water of about 1,000.

In response to questions related to cuts to the Fire Department's budget as part of the 2024-25 fiscal year, Bass said she was confident received further allocations following July 1, 2024 — the start of the fiscal year.

Jacob Robbie, public information officer for the LAFD, emphasized the department is "stretched thin," which is why they called for more resources.

"This is something that we have not seen in my 16 years with LAFD, and in five years in another fire department," Robbie said. "I've never seen winds that made it to the Pacific Ocean turned around and went back up the canyon."

He reiterated the extreme weather event is not something any fire department can be prepared for.

Meanwhile, Richard Grenell, an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump in 2020, posted on X, "The national media hasn't even mentioned that Karen Bass is in Africa while our city is literally burning to the ground."

And billionaire Elon Musk, a current Trump adviser, posted on X, which he owns, "Obama made sure that Rick Caruso, who is extremely competent, lost to utterly incompetent Mayor Karen."