Concerns Over Firefighter Protocol After Palisades Fire
On January 7, firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) expressed concern about being ordered to leave the site of the Palisades Fire, even though the burn scars from the January 1 incident had not fully cooled down.
Earlier this month, Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was arrested on arson charges for starting the fire, which is referred to as the Lachman Fire. Fortunately, it had been extinguished under calm weather conditions.
The following day, firefighters returned to the site to keep an eye on the situation, but they were later instructed to depart. They found that the fire still had some lingering embers that reignited due to strong winds on January 7, as outlined in the federal indictment against Rinderknecht.
Text messages from fire department personnel indicated they were told to leave despite worries about ongoing underground burning. Five days later, a rekindled fire forced firefighters, who were dealing with a smaller brush fire, to retreat from the original burn site. This was concerning because they noted that the ground was still smoldering and rocks were hot, as highlighted in the messages reviewed.
To their surprise, a battalion chief ordered them to withdraw on January 2, shortly after the initial 8-acre wildfire had been declared extinguished. Firefighters felt it would be more prudent to stay behind and search for hidden embers rather than leaving the site unguarded.
One firefighter remarked in a text that he was warned by his battalion chief that vacating the area while smoldering signs were still present was “a bad idea.” He later reflected, “And the rest is history.”
Reports had indicated that the city of Los Angeles was hesitant to send additional firefighters to the Pacific Palisades ahead of the January 7 wind event. Budget cuts implemented by Mayor Karen Bass had reportedly made it challenging for the city to manage overtime costs, even leading to increased spending on homeless services compared to firefighting efforts.
Interestingly, California chose not to allocate pre-deployed resources to the Pacific Palisades area, opting instead to send resources to other locations, despite the burn area being near or on state land.
