Musk’s LA wildfire response: A triumph of PR over substance

The impact of Musk's relief efforts did not match the hype

On January 9, Elon Musk announced to his 213 million followers on X that he would provide a “free” month of internet access to those impacted by the deadly wildfires in Southern California. It would be offered through Starlink, a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, Musk's space exploration company.

But missing from Musk's announcement on X was a costly detail: To claim the free month of satellite internet service, eligible Los Angeles area residents first would have to spend a minimum of $349 on a Starlink hardware kit. "A Starlink kit is currently required to access this free service," Starlink notes on its website. "If you do not already have a Starlink kit, you will need to purchase one from starlink.com/residential or an authorized retailer such as Best Buy or Home Depot." According to Starlink, if you order a kit from the company, it typically takes 1-2 weeks to arrive.

Starting February 10, anyone who purchased a $349 kit and claimed the "free" service will be transferred to "a paid Residential subscription," which is currently $120 monthly. Existing Starlink customers living in eligible areas were given a one-month subscription credit.

The disconnect between Musk's public announcement and the reality of the residential internet offer is part of a pattern in Musk's response to the Los Angeles fires. While the initiatives helped some people, the impact is far more limited than Musk's posts — and the attendant media coverage — suggest.

8 Cybertrucks and a tub of red licorice

On January 12, Musk announced he would "position Cybertrucks with Starlinks and free WiFi in a grid pattern in the areas that most need it in the greater LA/Malibu area." The post immediately earned Tesla and its newest luxury vehicle a wave of press attention.

“Elon Musk sends Tesla Cybertrucks to Los Angeles as wildfires continue,” declared a headline from USA Today. "After Attacking L.A. Wildfire Response, Elon Musk Sends His Products to Help," the New York Times reported. “Elon Musk to provide Wi-Fi to wildfire-stricken areas using Starlink, Cybertrucks,” a Fox Business headline proclaimed. Fox’s Los Angeles affiliate asserted that Elon Musk had “[donated] Cybertrucks to LA communities without power.”

Musk became personally involved in the effort, intensifying the media coverage. On the evening of January 12, Musk, with several Cybertrucks in tow, entered a firefighter command center in the Pacific Palisades to hand deliver Starlink kits. On X, Musk proclaimed that he had appropriated a number of Cybertrucks bound for customer fulfillment. He said the vehicles would instead be dispatched to various impacted neighborhoods to serve as mobile internet hotspots and power banks utilizing the Cybertruck’s 1,590lb battery.

Along with his visit to the command center, Musk promoted the Cybertruck as the ideal vehicle in an emergency situation. Musk advertised its defense capabilities while warning of “armed looters” roaming the streets of Los Angeles during the wildfires. “Cybertruck side panels are bulletproof to subsonic projectiles (handguns, shotgun & Tommy gun), but the glass is not, so make sure to duck if you see anyone wielding a gun,” he wrote in a January 12 post on X. “This is not fiction.” Four days later, Tesla began offering discounts on new Cybertrucks for the first time.

But the actual deployment of Cybertrucks for relief efforts appeared to be limited. According to a post by Tesla later on January 12, eight Cybertrucks with Starlink kits were deployed in the area, including three in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in Altadena. The company emphasized that the bed of at least one Cybertruck was stocked with snacks. A picture of the truck showed several dozen bananas, two bags of oranges, a tub of red licorice, and other items.

It is possible that more Cybertrucks were deployed, but no further updates were provided by Tesla. There is no evidence that a "grid" of wifi access points benefiting a significant number of Angelenos ever materialized. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

While Musk's announcement generated headlines, other communications companies provided much more extensive assistance to the area with little notice. Spectrum, for example, provided free, no login-required internet at any of its 35,000 WiFi hotspots across the Los Angeles area.

Where did the Starlink terminals go?

The most significant relief effort connected to Musk was the donation of Starlink kits to fire departments and other entities involved in the relief effort. In a January 16 statement, SpaceX said it had donated 1,350 Starlink kits to “fire departments and other disaster response organizations from Orange County to Malibu.”

However, it is unclear how the vast majority of those units were distributed and who is using them.

The Los Angeles County government told Musk Watch it had only received 25 terminals from Starlink. Vanessa Martinez, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Office of Countywide Communications, said the terminals were “put to immediate use to improve communications for first responders.” She said that the cost of the Starlink subscriptions — which, for 25 terminals, would amount to at least $3,000 for one month of service — will be “covered by [SpaceX] during the emergency.” Additionally, at least three donated Starlink terminals were attached to the Cybertrucks provided to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Musk undertook a similar effort last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on the East Coast, collaborating with Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), a non-profit disaster response organization, to distribute at least 400 Starlink kits to communities. GEM founder Michael Capponi told Musk Watch he had expected to receive 150 Starlink kits from SpaceX to distribute to firefighters and law enforcement personnel in California early last week.

At one point last week, Capponi said the kits were "in transit" and were expected to arrive imminently. But the kits did not arrive. Capponi said GEM’s role was ultimately called off due to "diminishing need" and SpaceX’s distribution. Musk Watch contacted numerous government agencies and non-profits but could not determine where the other 1,325 Starlink kits were sent. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk's contribution, in context

If SpaceX’s self-reported figure of 1,350 Starlink units donated is accurate, the costs of the hardware on top of a month of free service would be valued at roughly $634,500, based on retail prices. If SpaceX has the agencies return the kits after two or three months, as Capponi said SpaceX has done in previous disasters, the value would be closer to $200,000. (In Europe, Starlink rents kits for less than $20 per month. Starlink does not generally allow customers in the United States to rent kits.)

Regardless, the retail value of the publicly announced contributions by entities connected with Musk would be less than $1 million. (Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has not announced any personal contributions to the relief efforts.) For comparison, Google announced it would contribute "$15 million to organizations providing immediate relief in LA."

With the fires still raging on January 12, Musk took the opportunity to cast himself as a hero, reposting a video that praised him for stepping up “big time” and saving “thousands of lives.” The clip, originally shared by a pro-Trump account, included photos of Musk posing that were superimposed over wildfire footage.

“The traditional communication towers in Los Angeles were already reduced to ashes in the fire, and the disaster zone lost all signal,” an AI narrator said over the video. “Yet people could still watch live coverage of the fire. This was all because at this critical moment, Musk generously donated Starlink terminals to Los Angeles, restoring communication.”