Pins matching tag:"Palisades Fire"

Reported at about 10:30 a.m. in the Santa Monica Mountains during a Santa Ana windstorm, the fire burned 23,448 acres through Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu, destroyed 6,845 structures and killed 12 people.

CAL FIRE declared the Palisades Fire 100% contained on 31 January 2025 after 24 days, at 23,448 acres, with 6,845 structures destroyed and 12 people dead.

Mayor Karen Bass removed Kristin Crowley as Los Angeles fire chief, saying 1,000 firefighters were sent home the morning the fires broke out and that Crowley refused to write an after-action report.

Six months after the fires, Governor Newsom declared the public cleanup of more than 10,000 burned parcels in the Palisades and Eaton zones substantially complete, the fastest major disaster cleanup in US history.

Federal agents arrested Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, in Florida on a complaint alleging he set the New Year's Day Lachman Fire that smouldered underground and flared up as the Palisades Fire on 7 January.

The Los Angeles Fire Department published its 70-page After-Action Review of the first 36 hours of the Palisades Fire, citing too few resources on the initial attack, communication lapses and water shortages.

A house at 915 N Kagawa Street, built by Thomas James Homes in about six months, became the first home rebuilt after the Palisades Fire to be cleared for occupancy.

US District Judge Anne Hwang declared a mistrial after jurors deadlocked 10-2 in favour of acquitting Jonathan Rinderknecht on all three arson charges, and prosecutors said they would try him again.

Jonathan Rinderknecht goes before a new jury on a superseding two-count indictment that separates the New Year's Day Lachman Fire from the Palisades Fire, after his first trial ended 10-2 for acquittal.