Patricia Heaton says LA fires prove ‘we can’t just rely on the government’
Patricia Heaton slammed California leadership, claiming officials "dropped the ball" regarding the response to the Los Angeles fires.
Heaton, who has teamed up with LA Dream Center to help residents in need, said city leaders were not prepared and questioned where taxpayer money had gone in an interview with Fox News Digital.
The "Everybody Loves Raymond" star called for change after the "very harsh lesson."
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Heaton explained Los Angeles didn't seem prepared for the fires, which began burning on Jan. 7 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Since then, multiple fires have burned in different areas of the star-studded city, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. The actress emphasized a need for forestry management and reservoirs actually filled with water.
"I know some of the officials were saying, ‘Well, the system was overwhelmed.’ Well, in case of a huge fire, of course it's going to be overwhelmed," she told Fox News Digital. "You should know that and have been prepared for that. So, I think there's a lot of money spent in L.A. and we can't figure out where it's going."
WATCH: ACTRESS PATRICIA HEATON SAYS WE 'CAN’T RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT' AFTER LA FIRES DESTROY CITY
Heaton insisted California residents "can't just rely on the government to take care of things."
"It's people coming together in your community and insisting on getting stuff done. And sadly, this is a very, very, very harsh lesson."
"But I guess that's what it takes to kind of break apart that bureaucracy and get the stuff done that the government is supposed to do, which is take care of the infrastructure first and foremost," Heaton said.
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Heaton is working with LA Dream Center to help with diaster relief efforts, and she's not the only one. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kathie Lee Gifford and Chris Pratt have all donated needed items or money to the charity working to help those affected by the Los Angeles fires.
"They've stepped up. They've showed up. We've had advocacy," Matthew Barnett, founder of LA Dream Center, told Fox News Digital about the celebrity support. "We have people like Snoop Dog the other day – like I've never met in my entire life – but he did a whole minute and a half, like, Instagram post of me just talking."
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The LA Dream Center typically serves as a resource center focused "on providing support to those affected by homelessness, hunger, and the lack of education" through community programs, according to the website.
The charity has switched gears as multiple fires continue to burn in Los Angeles.
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While Heaton once called Los Angeles home, the actress knows moving to Nashville, Tennessee, was the "right decision" for her.
"My four sons still live in L.A., and we go back to hang out and take meetings," she told Fox News Digital. "And we have many friends there and are doing business there, but Nashville seems to be welcoming a lot of people from our industry. So I'm not the only one that made this decision."
"It is filling up," Heaton noted. "And I have a feeling after this fire we're going to get another huge amount … of talented, creative people who have decided, you know, they've had enough and are ready to live in a beautiful place with friendly people and where they can be creative without worrying about houses burning down and taxes going up and crime and all that stuff."
For her part, Heaton has helped out friends in Los Angeles who have had to evacuate and opened her home in Nashville for those looking to "get out" of the city.
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The number of people who have lost their homes to the L.A. fires, which began Jan. 7 with the Palisades Fire, has continued to rise. The multiple fires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, leaving 24 people dead so far.
Fierce Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around the nation's second-largest city, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
In less than a week, four fires have ignited more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), roughly three times the size of Manhattan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.