Aaron Rodgers on Thursday condemned the arsonists responsible for some of the wildfires that started the deadly Los Angeles wildfires and lamented the immense loss in the area,
Rodgers spoke about the destructive infernos that hit the county last week that left more than two dozen dead with thousands of structures burned to the ground in an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He said residents in the area are going through a “tough time.”
The sun rises over homes destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The New York Jets superstar curtailed himself from criticizing leaders and lawmakers and focused his attention on those who allegedly started the blazes.
“There’s a lot of arson, and people have been caught doing it, people have been caught walking around blow torches and different s— which is crazy, and it’s inhumane is what it is, and it’s sickening and then the looting that’s gone on,” he said. “People impersonating firefighters, people starting fires and to loot the same areas. There’s a lot of things that really make you question humanity in general, and it’s a bad look because have people have lost their lives, people have lost their houses, their homes, their memories, everything, the pets. And then you have people who are legitimately starting fires in areas.
“The Runyon Canyon fire, that was an arson. There was a fire that was actually started real close to my house that was arson that thankfully got put away really quick, so that’s the s—ty part about all this.”
Rodgers relished the fact that residents have come together to help each other out in trying times.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“The beautiful part is the way that so many people have come together and have gotten meals together and supplies together for these incredible men and women fighting these fires,” he said. “The people who are flying these planes, I saw this incredible video probably about a week ago of the f—ing most beautiful drop from a plane that absolutely doused this fire.
“There’s a lot of really talented people who have been working on this, putting in crazy freaking hours, so my heart and my hat is tipped to the incredible men and women who are putting in crazy hours, not just from Southern California, but the people that came down from Northern California and other states and supplies have been given in for those people has been amazing.”
Rodgers did mention that he knew a lot of people who lost their houses and possessions, including actor Miles Teller. He said when he arrived back in Los Angeles, the first thing he did was to call him as they have been friends for nearly 20 years.
“… I called to just check on him and that’s when it really hit home,” Rodgers said. “Like this is legitimate, they didn’t have a chance. They had a short amount of time, they got everything they could, they got Buggsy (their dog) and what little they could fill in a car and got out, so that’s the reality.
A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Etienne Laurent)
“But the reality is there’s thousands of people like that who’ve been dealing with that, got displaced, lost everything, and like you said there’s some people that somehow won the lottery and their house got missed.”
