Kamala Harris Heads From Inauguration To Altadena To Help Volunteers

ALTADENA, CA — Former Vice President Kamala Harris left the U.S. Capitol inauguration of President Donald Trump Monday for Hollywood Burbank Airport and then straight to Altadena where she and her husband Doug Emhoff met with victims of the Eaton Fire.

The former vice president also met with volunteers and helped passed out meals to people who lost their homes and businesses to the fires.

Harris visited and helped the World Central Kitchen to distribute free meals to wildfire victims in Altadena.

"We went and visited World Central Kitchen. The volunteers who were there, some of them who lost their own homes, are there doing the work of taking care of perfect strangers. Who in the face of that stranger, they see a neighbor."

She also praised the firefighters who spent days battling the most catastrophic urban wildfires in U.S. history amid an historic Santa Ana windstorm.

"As I said to these courageous and extraordinary firefighters, moments of crisis really do reveal the heroes among us," Harris said.

Harris said firefighters and volunteers understand the importance and validity of communal assistance.

"We're all in this together," Harris said. ``Los Angeles is going to continue to be what Los Angeles is, a place that is strong and knows how to rebuild. I have, over the last two weeks, been a part of a lot of the work that has been about ensuring that Los Angeles will receive the federal support that it so rightly deserves."

The trip was a homecoming for Harris, who lives in a Brentwood neighborhood that was subject to evacuations from the Palisades Fire more than a week ago.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone thanked Harris for the Biden Administration's pledge of federal funding to cover all firefighting and debris removal expenses associated with the Eaton and Palisades fires over the next six months.

City News Service contributed to this report.