Biden to support additional L.A. wildfires... to "100% pay for 180 days"

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced additional support measures to respond to simultaneous wildfires that have been spreading for three days in western Los Angeles.

"We will increase the cost of the federal government's recovery by 100%," President Biden said in a statement at the Los Angeles Wildfire Countermeasures Conference held at the White House on the afternoon of the 9th. "The federal government will pay 100% of the cost over the next 180 days."

"It will be used for the removal of debris and temporary accommodation, the salaries of emergency responders, and all necessary measures to protect lives and property," he continued.

It also said it mobilized all federal personnel and equipment, including 30 fire helicopters and aircraft and eight Pentagon C-130 transporters, and secured additional firefighters and firefighting aircraft in Canada.

President Biden called the L.A. wildfires "the most extensive and destructive in California's history" to date and promised to "get through this and eventually help us recover and rebuild."

In particular, he said of the cause of the simultaneous forest fires, "The earth is warming and it is a reality, and it is having a serious impact."