L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is calling for an investigation into the Lachman Fire after a Los Angeles Times report indicated that firefighters were ordered to abandon the smoldering underground fire that later became the Palisades Fire.
According to text messages, firefighters told their battalion chief that “the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch” after responding to the Lachman Fire, which ignited on New Year’s Day before being contained.
However, the battalion chief ordered fire crews 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,” according to the Times report.
Days later on Jan. 7, gusty winds continued stoking the remnants of the Lachman Fire, which exploded into the deadly Palisades Fire.
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FILE – An aerial view shows the devastation left by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file) -
The remains of beachside homes that burned along Pacific Coast Highway during the Palisades Fire in Malibu, CA, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images) -
The U.S. Dept. of Justice booking photo of Jonathan Rinderknecht over the Palisades Fire devastation in Malibu, California in January 2025 (AP). -
Homes along Pacific Coast Highway are seen burn out from the Palisades Fire, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) -
Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) -
An aerial view shows the devastation left by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) -
Charred vehicles sit along the Pacific Coast Highway, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) -
A crew for Southern California Edison prepares the ground for electric poles along the Pacific Coast Highway near homes destroyed from the Palisades Fire in Malibu, Calif., Wednesday. Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) -
FILE – Fire Crews battle the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) -
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) -
A crew for Southern California Edison prepares the ground for electric poles along the Pacific Coast Highway near homes destroyed from the Pacific Palisades Fire in Malibu, Calif., Wednesday. Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) -
California Governor Gavin Newsom, left, surveys damage in Pacific Palisades with CalFire’s Nick Schuler, center, and Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif.) during the Palisades Fire Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP) -
FILE – President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk with Jason Hing, chief deputy of emergency services at the Los Angles Fire Department, left, and Capt. Jeff Brown, chief of Station 69, as they tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) -
FILE – The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen at sunset in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, file) -
A firefighter sets up a hose while fighting the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer) -
Homes along Pacific Coast Highway are left burned to the ground in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher) -
FILE – The devastation from the Palisades Fire is seen in an aerial view in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) -
Officials in Los Angeles County are advising the public to stay out of ocean water as the Palisades Fire cleanup continues. (KTLA) -
EPA team members are seen working to clear properties and hazardous waste during the first phase of clean up after the destructive Eaton and Palisades fires. February 2025. (KTLA) -
FILE – An aerial view shows the devastation by the Palisades Fire Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) -
FILE – Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns multiple structures in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) -
A person walks along a beach past homes destroyed by the Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) -
Firefighters work at the site of a brush fire pushed by gusting Santa Ana winds on January 7, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. A fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles has forced some residents to evacuate amid “life-threatening and destructive” winds. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images) -
The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen in the early morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher)
In one text message reviewed by The Times, a firefighter who was at the scene on Jan. 2 wrote that the “battalion chief had been told it was a ‘bad idea’ to leave the burn scar unprotected because of the visible signs of smoldering terrain. ‘And the rest is history,” the firefighter wrote in recent weeks.
The Palisades Fire killed 12 people, scorched 23,448 acres and destroyed 6,837 structures in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga.
Following the Times report, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass called for a “thorough investigation” into the Los Angeles Fire Department’s handling of the Lachman Fire. In a message to LAFD interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva on Oct. 31, Bass wrote:
“This week’s report about the Lachman Fire is tremendously alarming, and underscores the reforms and new leadership we have been bringing to the Los Angeles Fire Department since January. Make no mistake, our city’s firefighters are heroes every day. We owe it to them and the people of Los Angeles to make sure that their fire department is led, organized and ready for whatever emergencies may arise.
Many investigations, and some ongoing, have been looking into the January wildfires. I am requesting that you thoroughly investigate this week’s report regarding the Lachman Fire. A full understanding of the Lachman Fire response is essential to an accurate accounting of what occurred during the January wildfires. This will continue to guide our ongoing reforms, which include enhancing pre-deployment protocols, strengthening interagency coordination, upgrading communications technology and expanding training at all staff levels.”
Earlier this month on Oct. 7, Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of Melbourne, Florida, was arrested and charged with deliberately sparking the Lachman Fire along a hiking trail shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.