A reader sent this YouTube of some people who “chase” fires and take videos. Notice three things in the video 1) no firefighters 2) no hurricane force winds, and 3) electricity on in portions of the Palisades during the fire.click here.
(Editor’s note: As I listened to AECOM’s presentation, the company hired by the City to help the Palisades rebuild, I was struck by the fact they will offer all sorts of advice about evacuation and rebuilding—but yet, no one officially knows what went wrong. To fix something you need to know the problem. AECOM might best serve the community by pointing out the problems, so those scenarios are not repeated. Then a reader sent the message below, summing up my thoughts perfectly.)
- During one of the PPCC zoom meetings, 2 or 3 times ago, gentleman in a blue shirt, maybe a baseball jersey of one of the youth leagues said it clearly. We need a full on investigation into this whole mess. Nothing will happen until we get this investigation done.
It is simple: With no true sense of what happened, we will not know how to move forward and where to correct the mistakes that were made and where to adjust so we can move forward.
The last three months have proved that to me. Every agenda has to be put aside, from concrete plants, to different forms of housing that are different from what was here before, to the whole slew of crazy ideas that have come along. Keep rebuilding individual properties, yes. But this snails pace of rebuilding will not improve without a true investigation. No one knows anything, so they slow down and then they just stop.
- I propose a full investigation into the January fire – and this whole hide and seek mess of the last six months. Stop the hide-and-seek now. Stop blaming the homeowners for expecting their tax dollars to be used for fire prevention.
ANY new social ideas – put a stop to it until this investigation is done and all questions are answered.
Who should we hire? How about Munger, Tolles, and Olson, or a similar high quality investigative law firm. Have them do a full investigation, with professional investigators, with the help of the L.A. Times and investigative reporters on their staff and people such as yourself. I’ll personally put forward $10,000 towards this effort right now.
Who will join me in seeking the truth?
- The 1961 Bel Air Fire had answers immediately. We talked about the LA Times reports as kids. Everyone was talking about it. The information was out there on the front page and working its way through all levels of L.A. But 10 years ago, something happened. It wasn’t noticed, or talked about, but officialdom just forgot what they needed to do. Turned their back on 50 years of experience. Got completely complacent. The last few fires have seemed to produce nothing quickly. This one has produced virtually nothing at all, so far.
Ignorance drives conspiracy theories. Ignorance and stupidity when given free rein looks the same as lies and stupidity. The result is a true lack of trust in authority in government. Revolutions are born of such material. 250 years ago, it bred our Revolution and that set the world on fire. Do these officials really want to be remembered for creating a revolution.
Stop the duck and cover. Stop the deceptions and lies.
Tell the Truth. Let the Truth Out. What are you so afraid of?
Joseph Somerville
Great idea. Munger Tolles, which has been hired by LADWP to peddle the story that the fire was an act of god and the result of climate change, will take your $10,000 and add it the the “Victory for LADWP over the residents of Pacific Palisades” fund. Hiring a pro resident expert to determine the ground truth of the origin of the fire and liability for the fire may mean something to Palisades residents but the expert findings will be rejected by the city/county/state. The city/county/state are not waiting for the “truth”. They have already stated that climate change is the truth and the city/county/state have absolutely no liability (according to their weltanschauung). Have any Democrats in office helped the Palisades? No. Why not ask the one person who really wants to humiliate Bass and Newsom? There is a good chance that 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is listening and watching. All you have to do is chant the words “rake the forest”
The simple truth as to why this catastrophe occurred was very evident to all of us who witnessed the fire first hand for all three days: The fire itself was not a big deal. It was easy to fight as the dozens of homes and Caruso’s village, all of whom had small independent contractors doing the LA Fire Department’s job can attest. The LA Fire Department simply sat this fire out. Why? They STILL haven’t release their call logs despite hundreds of media requests under the Freedom of Information Act (usually this sort of information is routinely released within hours). When the logs and other data as to the LAFD’s passivity get released we’ll figure out why our non responders were screwing around, hiding, or just sitting on their rears in Station 69, at Paul Revere High School and most notably on Will Rogers Beach while our town slowly got cremated over three days. I, and dozens of others took a lot of photographs of them laughing amongst themselves, taking joyrides around town to marvel at the destruction, or just getting in our way. Once the call logs are released the 30,000 victims who lost everything might get some small justice as the inevitable and much overdue criminal negligence filings and mass firings occur. And perhaps once we replace our Fire Department with people who actually fight fires, it might just be safe to rebuild our town.
Can we start a petition demanding Gov. Newsom, Traci Park, Rick Caruso or someone who could use the PR profile, to step up and make this investigation happen?
Dumb Bass is never going to be Governor. Why not tell the truth? Or would that effect all expanse paid trips back to Gana?
Taxes are too low in CA – we have million dollar public employee pensions to feed (do the math). Now you want water to fight fires?
Latham & Watkins was directly hired to defend LADWP, and apparently defame everyone else. Not Munger, Tolls and Olsen as you incorrectly stated. I choose that name because I have seen them work before. Any truly reputable, uncompromised Legal firm would do. Who personally dislikes L&W the most. Get them.
Seems I am incorrect and Munger, Tolls and Olsen are part of DWP’s team. Still the remainder of my point remains. Find an alternative company.