Aaron Rodgers on Thursday condemned the arsonists responsible for some of the wildfires that sparked the deadly Los Angeles blazes and lamented the immense loss in the region.
Rodgers spoke about the destructive infernos that hit the county last week and left more than two dozen people dead and thousands of structures burned during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He said people in the area were going through a “difficult time”.
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The sun rises over homes destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The New York Jets superstar refrained from criticizing leaders and lawmakers and focused his attention on those who allegedly started the fires.
“There’s a lot of arson going on, and people have been caught doing it, people have been caught walking around with blowtorches and different shit, which is crazy, and it’s inhumane, it is what it is, and it’s sickening and then the looting is gone,” he said. “People pretending to be firefighters, people starting fires and looting the same areas. There’s a lot of stuff that really makes you question humanity in general, and it’s a bad image because people lost their lives, people lost their homes, their homes, their memories, everything, their pets. And then you have people legitimately starting fires in certain areas.
“The Runyon Canyon fire, it was an arson. There was a fire that actually started very close to my house, it was an arson that fortunately was brought under control very quickly, So that’s the craziest part of all of this.”
Rodgers appreciated the fact that residents came together to help each other through difficult times.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers speaks during 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)
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“The beautiful thing is how so many people have come together and put together meals and supplies for these incredible men and women who are fighting these fires,” he said. “The people who fly these planes, I saw this incredible video probably about a week ago of the most beautiful plane drop that completely put out this fire.
“There are a lot of really talented people who have been working on this, putting in crazy hours, so my heart and hat go out to the incredible men and women putting in crazy hours, not just from Southern California, but “People came from Northern California and other states and the supplies were donated for these people, it’s amazing.”
Rodgers mentioned that he knows many people who lost their homes and possessions, including actor Miles Teller. He said that when he returned to Los Angeles, the first thing he did was call her because they had been friends for almost 20 years.
“…I called just to see how he was doing and that’s when it really hit me,” Rodgers said. “Like it was legit, they had no chance. They had little time, they got everything they could, they got Buggsy (their dog) and what little they could stuff in a car and came out, so that’s it.
A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Étienne Laurent)
“But the reality is there are thousands of people like that who have faced this, been displaced, lost everything, and like you said, there are people who, in a way or another, won the lottery and their house was a dud.”
