A blockbuster lawsuit alleging California and the City of Los Angeles failed to properly extinguish the Lachman Fire, which led to the Palisades Fire, causing 12 deaths and billions of dollars in damages, is officially allowed to move forward.
The ruling from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jester means the state and city could be found liable for tens of billions of dollars in damages, at a time when both are scrambling to close budget deficits.
“The city is already financially distressed,” Alex “Trey” Robertson, the lead attorney on the case representing thousands of fire victims, told The California Post.
“Mayor Bass is running for reelection, and this is the last thing she needs. Once further evidence of the cover-up of what actually happened and caused this fire comes to light, it’s gonna be a really bad day for Karen Bass.”
The lawsuit alleges the hot spots that continued to smolder and burn underground were left behind at Lachman, ultimately leading to the Palisades fire a week later.
It also claims the city failed to provide water to fight the fire and did not shut off the power, creating dangerous conditions on public property.
“This is the first case ever that there’s no precedent for holding a city liable for a failure to supply water to fight a fire,” Robertson said, adding that the city knew the risks and the court ruled in favor of the victims.
Robertson also pointed to the Palisades After-Action Fire Report, in which he said shows the mayor’s office putting “their thumbprint on the scale.”
The Post obtained the first draft of the report — before it was quietly altered and released to the public.
Newly uncovered edits show sweeping changes to the document that was meant to deliver a warts-and-all account of the disaster, putting more pressure on Mayor Karen Bass to explain whether her office played a role in softening the language to blunt criticism of the city’s response to a fire that killed at least 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures.
The Mayor has insisted she only reviewed an early draft and asked the Los Angeles Fire Department to ensure accuracy on issues such as weather and budgeting. She claims that neither she nor her staff made edits to the report.
Roberston told The Post there will be more evidence coming out soon from depositions with firefighters that will be “shocking” to the public; however, the City has provisionally designated them as confidential.
“They have 30 days to make that final determination whether they are going to stand on that position that 100% of firefighters’ testimony is confidential, which of course is not,” Robertson said. “But, once we’re able to release those firefighter depositions, it’s going to be jaw-dropping.”
While the state and city face potential financial ruin from thousands of homeowners and businesses destroyed in the blaze, dozens of insurance companies have also joined the lawsuit seeking billions in reimbursement for paid-out claims.
“They rolled the dice, and they lost, and now they’re gonna have to potentially pay all of these thousands of fire victims to prove our case,” Roberston said.
The next court date will be held on March 18, where Robertson and the attorneys for the state and city will present a plan to start the discovery process.
Read the full article here
