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Video shows Palisades Fire may have smoldered for days before deadly blaze
Firefighters were ordered to leave the Lachman Fire site despite visible smoldering, preceding the Palisades Fire that destroyed 6,800 structures and killed 12, officials said.
- On Jan. 2 Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters were ordered to leave the Lachman Fire despite complaints of smoldering, and on Jan. 7 fierce winds rekindled it into the Palisades Fire burning 23,448 acres.
- Federal investigators found the fire smoldered underground in root systems for days until winds surfaced it, while Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said thermal imaging cameras reach one foot but chaparral root depth 15 to 25 feet.
- Tree stumps and rocks remained hot when crews were ordered to roll up hoses on Jan. 2, and firefighters reported cold‑trailing the burn for more than 36 hours.
- Revelations have sharpened criticism of LAFD leadership and Mayor Karen Bass, spawning lawsuits, a U.S. Senate Republican‑led inquiry, and the removal of Former LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley earlier this year.
- The arrest prompted investigators to officially label the blaze a `holdover` continuation of the Lachman Fire, though Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said the fire was not due to `failed suppression`.
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Fire department brass failed Jan. 7
The Santa Ana winds blew, gale-force, all over Southern California that terrible night of Jan. 7. If fires were to start, they were going to cause havoc, and no amount of human firefighting effort was likely to entirely quell them. But the people of Los Angeles County still expect best efforts in the face of disaster on the part of the government agencies we hire to keep us safe, and new reporting shows that human and organizational failures led…
LA firefighters warned that brush fire was still smoldering before it sparked Palisades blaze, but officials did nothing: report
Los Angeles firefighters had warned their chief that a brush fire that would eventually grow into the deadly Palisades inferno had not been fully extinguished, but the department did nothing about it, a high-ranking LAFD source said.
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources18
Leaning Left1Leaning Right7Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution47% Center, 46% Right
Bias Distribution
- 47% of the sources are Center, 46% of the sources lean Right
47% Center
C 47%
R 46%
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