Residents Expand Legal Action Over City’s Alleged Fire Response Failures
Twenty-five additional Pacific Palisades residents have joined a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), alleging that failures in the area’s water supply system exacerbated January’s deadly brush fire.
Initially filed in January on behalf of 23 residents, the lawsuit claims that the city and LADWP failed to provide an adequate water supply, hindering firefighters’ ability to control the Palisades Fire, which devastated the coastal community. With the latest filing on Wednesday, the number of plaintiffs now stands at 48.
The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court, seeks damages for property loss, repair and replacement costs, alternative living expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and other financial hardships resulting from the fire.
“Plaintiffs are informed and believe that the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades on the date of the Palisades Fire failed, and that this failure was a substantial factor in causing plaintiffs to suffer the losses alleged,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a key component of the Los Angeles water supply system with a capacity of 117 million gallons, was empty at the time of the fire. This alleged failure, the plaintiffs argue, left fire crews with little to no water to combat the fast-moving blaze.
