The deadly Pacific Palisades fire, which tore through wealthy celebrity enclaves in Los Angeles, took hold in an area where firefighters had restricted access as part of woke laws protecting endangered plant species.
A class action lawsuit involving more than 3,000 claimants revealed text messages and avoidance maps in court, showing that state parks officials were concerned about endangered plants when responding to the Lachman Fire on January 1, 2024.
This blaze was believed to have been extinguished in Topanga State Park until six days later, when it reignited into the Palisades inferno, which started on January 7 and burned for 24 days through the wealthy coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.
The blaze killed 12 people, destroyed 7,000 homes, caused damage worth $150 billion, and occurred simultaneously to the deadly Eaton fire nearby, wreaking havoc on Los Angeles and stretching resources beyond their limit.
Attorneys alleged that the state park officials directly interfered with LAFD’s mop-up operations of the Lachman fire in an effort to preserve endangered milkvetch plants, which were growing in the region.
In messages seen by NewsNation, state park employees discussed their plans to protect the plants during the Lachman fire.
‘There is federally endangered astragalus along the Temescal fire road. Would be nice to avoid cutting it if possible,’ one state park official wrote.
‘Do you have avoidance maps?’
New details have emerged after texts show State Park Officials were worried about endangered plants during the initial response of the Lachman fire
The State Park Officials were protecting the milkvetch plants which were growing in the region
‘I have a couple of READS on standby. I’ll wait to deploy them until you get on scene and assess the situation.’
The official added: ‘Definitely will want to send them down if heavy equipment arrives.’
These maps laid out where the designated avoidance areas were, and firefighters, as part of the state’s wildfire mitigation plan, are instructed to restrict operations in the region in an effort to preserve the sites.
The Palisades Fire reignited within one of the restricted avoidance areas, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office denied that state park employees were in charge at the burn site, instead blaming another agency.
‘The notion that State Parks favors plants over people is ludicrous,’ a spokesman for California State Parks said in a statement to the LA Times.
‘State Parks never hinders an active firefighting response, and firefighting decisions are up to the responding agency.
‘In this instance, the fire in question was deemed by LAFD to be fully contained a few hours after an arsonist started it.’
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Should protecting endangered plants ever take priority over saving homes and lives during wildfires?
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office initially denied that any California officials were on the scene until changing their response to that they were not in charge
Contradictory photos shows state park officials at the Topanga State Park with firefighters
One of the text read: ‘There is federally endangered astragalus along the Temescal fire road. Would be nice to avoid cutting it if possible’
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was charged with starting the catastrophic blaze that destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.
But Attorney Roger Behle, representing the 3,000 claimants, refuted the state’s claim to NewsNation: ‘The state’s narrative that they had nothing to do with it, and it’s some other agency’s fault, it’s their responsibility, it’s not ours, flies in the face of the evidence.’
Behle cited photo evidence contradicting Newsom’s office’s claims.
The suit also alleges that the state of California failed to monitor the Lachman fire adequately.
More revealing texts indicated that firefighters warned it was ‘a bad idea’ to leave the smoldering fire. However, they were ordered to leave the scene.
The damning evidence joins a laundry list of failures alleged against the state’s response to the fires.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was charged with starting the catastrophic blaze that destroyed thousands of homes
The Lachman fire was believed to have been extinguished until six days later, it reignited into the Palisades fire which killed 12 people
The Los Angeles Police Department released an embarrassing report on its response to the fires, putting pressure on city leaders.
Cops released their findings on November 4 after a damning inquiry, which found breakdowns in communication, specifically with the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The 92-page review sought to identify areas for improvement but also noted the courageous efforts of emergency responders.
The findings were presented to the Police Commission at the civilian oversight panel’s public meeting on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The report found firefighters lacked enough resources and struggled to communicate clearly in the first 36 hours of the blaze, and that those challenges hampered their response during a critical time.
It said the department did not pre-deploy enough resources despite warnings of severe winds.
The Palisades fire went on to become one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles’ history.
The Eaton Fire broke out the same day in the community of Altadena, destroying more than 9,400 homes and killing 19 people.
