Firefighters Warned Palisades Blaze Was Still Burning Days Before It Destroyed Neighborhood

Los Angeles firefighters warned a fire was still burning days before the Pacific Palisades blaze, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Roughly six days before the Pacific Palisades fire broke out, firefighters had been deployed to put out the smaller Lachman Fire, which began Jan. 1. In text messages among three firefighters and a third party, obtained and reviewed by the LA Times, the texts showed firefighters complaining that commanders failed to make sure the Lachman Fire was definitively out.

One firefighter expressed his surprise that crews in the Palisades were reportedly ordered to pack up a day after the Lachman Fire broke out, despite tree stumps still being hot. Another firefighter mentioned his crew members were upset when ordered to leave, but noted they couldn’t ignore the decision being made from higher up.

The same firefighter wrote that he and his team knew the Pacific Palisades fire was a re-ignition of the Lachman Fire, according to the outlet.

Officials arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on Oct. 8 in connection to authorities’ criminal investigation into the Pacific Palisades fire. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California, officials determined that the Palisades Fire was a continuation of the Lachman Fire, despite early claims from Democrats that the destruction was caused by climate change.