LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is addressing her trip to Africa during the historic windstorm that preceded January’s deadly Los Angeles wildfires, admitting for the first time that she now views it as a mistake.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she “absolutely” made a mistake by being in African when the devastating wildfires broke out on Jan. 7 and swept across the greater Pacific Palisades in California. “There is no question about that,

There is no question about that,” Bass added in her interview Thursday with NBC4’s Conan Nolan. The former congresswoman’s trip was preplanned. She landed in Ghana to attend the inauguration of the nation’s new president on January 5,

In an interview late last week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass admitted that she made a mistake by taking a trip to West Africa despite reports of severe fire weather that ultimately sparked two of the most destructive wildfires in the city’s history.