Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is at the center of controversy after social media photos showed her posing at a cocktail party in Ghana as the Palisades Fire exploded.

For the first 24 hours of Los Angeles' wildfire disaster, Mayor Karen Bass was a constant presence on social ... as part of a presidential delegation to Ghana, just as the National Weather Service began ratcheting up its warnings about the coming windstorm.

It remains unclear how much the city and its mayor will ultimately be to blame for the explosive horror of the Palisades fire.

As the most destructive fire in Los Angeles area history rages, Mayor Karen Bass faces criticism over the timing of an overseas trip and budget cuts made months ago that affected the city’s fire department.

"We, the undersigned residents of Los Angeles and concerned citizens, urgently call for the immediate recall of Mayor Karen Bass due to her gross mismanagement and failure to effectively respond to the devastating 2025 fires in and around the city of Los Angeles," the petition states.

Strong winds over the next day will create dangerous conditions as several major wildfires continue to burn in the Los Angeles area. About 88,000 people remained under evacuation orders Tuesday morning because of the fires. But another 84,800 have been warned that they might be ordered to evacuate.

L.A. is scared, seething and looking for a scapegoat — and who better than a mayor who jetted to another continent despite warnings that devastating winds were about to blast through a region that hasn’t seen substantial rainfall in months?

Karen Bass has come in for criticism over her handling of the fire department’s budget and other issues. Her chances for reelection may depend on the city’s long rebuilding process.

On Tuesday, CBS News’s Jonathan Vigliotti asked Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass ... The National Weather Service warned of dangerous fire conditions on Friday, January 3. Bass knew about ...

Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, has faced heavy criticism and attacks for attending President John Dramani Mahama’s inauguration amidst the escalating fires that have ravaged the city.

The Palisades Fire - the first of several blazes to erupt in LA - broke out on Tuesday last week, but Mayor Karen Bass reprotedly did not call on her crisis response team until seven days later.