by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe

The cover up is worse than the crime

One year ago a series of catastrophic wildfires burned Pacific Palisades, Altadena and much of Malibu to the ground. 12 months later, most of the area still looks the way it did after the fires, and most residents are still living in temporary housing, with only a handful of homes under construction.

Recent reports reveal that the fires raged due to the incompetence of state and local officials. Firefighters were ordered to abandon the smoldering underground fire that later became the devastating Palisades Fire, something the crews on the ground thought was a “bad idea,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to text messages, firefighters told their battalion chief that “the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch” at the site of the Lachman Fire, which burned on New Year’s Day 2025.

Despite that warning, “their battalion chief ordered them to roll up their hoses and pull out of the area on Jan. 2 — the day after the 8-acre blaze was declared contained — rather than stay and make sure there were no hidden embers that could spark a new fire.”

California State Senators and Assembly members unanimously passed two bills last January 23, 2025, to provide a total of $3 billion to help Los Angeles begin recovery and cleanup from the devastating wildfires.

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