As fire-wrecked Los Angeles braces for a visit by President Donald Trump, many are worrying the mercurial Republican will yank the federal support the city needs to get back on its feet.Trump is due in the shell-shocked city for a few hours on Friday afternoon, where he will be able to see for himself the devastation wrought by the deadly fires — damage whose repair will cost billions of dollars.Former president Joe Biden was quick to pledge whatever was needed to deal with the disaster in the waning days of his administration.But almost as soon as the fires erupted, Trump began sticking the boot in, lashing out at California Governor Gavin Newsom, and resurrecting an earlier hobbyhorse about water supplies.”I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said this week, emphasizing his false belief that there is a valve in northern California that can be turned to release billions of gallons (liters) of water in the rain-starved state.- Funding needed – Threats to withhold federal funds are worrisome to some of those who lost everything in the fires.”I just can’t fathom that the government is going to let so many people (suffer)… that they’re not going to help them,” Sebastian Harrison told AFP.This 59-year-old former actor lost his Malibu home in the blaze. He was not insured, unable to afford premiums that topped $40,000 a year.Without government money, getting his life back on track might prove almost impossible, he fears.In Altadena, a modest city further inland, as in the upscale Pacific Palisades, thousands of ruined buildings need to be cleared. Federal cash granted by Biden for 180 days is intended to cover this.But local authorities fret the White House’s new inhabitant might not honor that check.”Everybody’s rushing to make sure the funds get here before Trump gets in office,” a local official told AFP last week, on condition of anonymity.But, the person said, the demography of the disaster — which affected some very wealthy people as well as those of more modest means — gives hope that Trump won’t be able to abandon the region.”Trump may think of Altadena as a bunch of low-life Democrats, but Pacific Palisades is a different story,” the source said.”That’s the first zip code where he and other Republicans go to when they want to raise money in Los Angeles.”- “Principle of unity” – Pacific Palisades and the parts of Malibu it abuts are considerably less left-leaning than other parts of Los Angeles.While the area has its share of Hollywood liberals, it also has property developers, businesspeople and other Republicans.Among those who lost their homes was Mel Gibson, who Trump has just appointed to an ill-defined role as ambassador to Hollywood.The new president’s visit to Los Angeles looks set to include a meeting with the state’s governor — whom Trump delights in calling Gavin “Newscum.”There is no love lost between the two men, but Newsom has taken a more conciliatory approach in recent weeks.”Historically, federal disaster aid has been provided without conditions, recognizing that political calculations or regional divides should not encumber relief efforts,” he wrote in a letter last week to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.”This principle of unity is at the heart of our nation’s resilience.”But if the federal government cannot be cajoled into stumping up the funds needed for recovery and reconstruction, California says it is prepared to use the courts.The state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, said he found it “disheartening” that Trump and his allies were seeking to politicize tragedy.”We have every expectation that federal action will be taken to support California and the hardworking Californians whose lives and livelihoods are at risk,” he told AFP.”We have been preparing for the Trump administration for months, and we will not hesitate to act if we believe the president is violating the law.”

Helicopter pilot Tim Thomas has fought dozens of wildfires all over the world, but nothing prepared him for the scale and the challenge of the devastating blazes that ripped through Los Angeles.”I’ve never seen anything the scale that we saw the first night,” he told AFP.Fires erupted almost simultaneously in two separate neighborhoods during a furious windstorm on January 7.Whole streets were engulfed as hurricane-force gusts flung fireballs from house to house.Forecasters had been warning of extreme fire risk for days because of punishing dryness and winds up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour, saying any small fire would quickly spread.Extra resources were positioned all over the at-risk region, which extended for miles around the sprawling metropolis.But the fires, when they came, were overwhelming, defeating the hundreds of firefighters on the ground.Only an air assault would stop them.- Transfixed -A terrifying 24 hours after the first smoke blackened the air, winds dropped just enough for helicopters to take to the skies.”It was some of the most turbulent wind I’ve seen,” said helicopter coordinator John Williamson.Under the careful eye of experienced operators like Williamson, each pilot took turns in an elaborate airborne ballet.The life-saving airshow they put on for nearly two weeks became a defining feature of the fires, watched with awe and gratitude by a terrified region.Television viewers were transfixed by the incredible skills of helicopter pilots loading up hundreds of gallons (liters) of water into the bellies of their aircraft while hovering over a reservoir, then dumping it with pinpoint accuracy on a wall of flames.The sight of huge jet planes swooping over a fire line and unleashing a trail of bright red retardant thrilled and relieved those whose homes were threatened.But while they might have made it look easy, the pilots say the reality was far from it, with strong winds and unfamiliar terrain a constant challenge.”There were definitely some uneasy moments going over the mountains where the crew was looking for me to see if I’m comfortable,” said Thomas.”There’s definitely some times where the aircraft’s 23,000 pound (11.5 tons), and you’re getting rocked around, thrown around in the air.”- ‘Takes your breath away’ -Paul Karpus, who has overseen operations at an airbase in Camarillo, 45 miles (70 kilometers) west of Los Angeles, said the opening days of the firefight were like nothing he has experienced in 23 years.”Every season, you say, I’ve seen it all… And then you’re surprised,” he told AFP.”Seeing the amount of devastation for the first time, when the sun was coming up, and the amount of structures lost, it takes your breath away.”Aerial teams operated 24 hours, pulling long shifts that left them exhausted and fraught.”On a scale of one to 10, this one was a 10, stress-wise,” said Karpus.- ‘Nerve-racking’ -Williamson, whose job is to sit next to the pilot, guiding him to his designated zone and monitoring dozens of radio messages, said the complexity of the operation was a challenge.”The first three nights, really was pretty nerve-racking,” he said.Zach Boyce, who ran daytime operations said the sheer volume of aircraft in a tight space made things tricky.”We’re coordinating a lot of helicopters in a very tight area, and then we introduce fixed wing operations and air tankers and air attack… and everything becomes super compressed,” he said.More than two weeks after the fires erupted, killing more than two dozen people and reducing 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) to ash, the biggest blazes are under control.But the value of the aerial firefighters continues to be seen, with a fast-moving fire that erupted on Wednesday corralled by the time night fell after an airborne assault.For the people of Los Angeles, the men and women who have fought this battle are second to none.”We should never stop thanking them,” Los Angeles-based talk show host Jimmy Kimmel said.”Real superheroes.”