There are homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades that survived the fire.
Photo: RICH SCHMITT
Last night Circling the News looked at six of 12 rumors floating around Pacific Palisades. Tonight, we look at another six. Remember if someone tells you something, that does not make it true. You have a responsibility to go to a source to find out the truth before you spread the rumor to someone else.
And just because someone posts something on Nextdoor, doesn’t mean it has been factually checked. Rumors can be damaging.
- Pacific Palisades Will Not be Rebuilt for 7 to 10 years.
People forget that even though nearly 7,000 homes and businesses burned, there are still standing stores (Caruso’s Village), numerous businesses across the street on Sunset, the Post Office, the American Legion, CVS, Anawalt, Vons and the Palisades Highlands Plaza.
There are standing homes in the Canyons, in the El Medio Bluffs, the Huntington Palisades, Castellammare, the Highlands and the Riviera. The City has issued 82 building permits, with hundreds more under review. LAUSD is predicting the schools will be finished in three years and many of the burned homes will be completed in that same timeline.
Some residents are waiting for insurance money and for the City to “firm up” its regulations. The assumption of 7-10 years was based on Woolsey (November 2018 fire) where sites included septic systems. Those residents also had trouble with insurance and then ran into Covid shutdowns.
FACT OR BS? BS.
- Firefighters were unable to save homes during the Palisades Fire until all residents had evacuated for 36 hours.
While evacuation protocols and safety procedures can influence firefighting operations, there is no evidence to support the assertion that firefighters were prohibited from engaging until a complete evacuation was achieved. There are photos of firefighters working to save homes in the Highlands during the early hours of the fire. The assertion that firefighters were unable to save homes during the Palisades Fire until all residents had evacuated for 36 hours is unsubstantiated. There are photos of
The challenges faced during the Palisades Fire were multifaceted, involving delayed resources sent to the fire, evacuation orders, resource allocation decisions, and infrastructure limitations, rather than a strict policy delaying firefighting until complete evacuation.
FACT OR BS? BS.
- Large-scale developers are coming into the town and buying hundreds of homes/lots.
A resident wrote CTN today, that he heard this from someone who had heard it from an adjuster that an investment company was buying .
Only 55 lots/homes have been sold. CTN spoke to Amalfi Realty Co-Founder Anthony Marguleas, who said that he believed about half of those purchases were through owner/users and the remaining lots were sold to different people. There is no one large developer buying 100s of lots. Marguleas pointed out that each seller needs to be approached individually and the price negotiated separately for each lot.
FACT OR BS? BS.
- Zoning along Sunset Boulevard has already been changed to allow for large multi-story developments.
Chris Spitz, the At-Large Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) Representative was contacted. “I’m not aware that zoning has changed,” she said and added that the Pacific Palisades Specific Plan does have height limits, an ordinance that is still in place. The Council had written to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and asked for confirmation that Specific Plan would be enforced but has not received a response. (Residents can read the Specific Plan on https://pacpalicc.org under documents.)
Shell Gas Station owner Justin Kohanoff has proposed putting up an eight-story building on Sunset Boulevard to replace the Station, but the current Specific Plan would not allow it.
Spitz warns that Statewide bills are making the rounds that may change the situation. SB 79 (Scott Wiener), which is opposed by the PPCC, the League of California Cities, the LA C.A., etc.; passed last night in the Senate, and must now go to the Assembly. If it becomes a state-wide law, it would possibly allow the size of structure that Kohanoff wants to build.
FACT OR BS? BS.
5. The Palisades Fire was intentionally started by an arsonist driving an old fire truck.
On January 18, 2025, nearly 11 days after the start of the Palisades Fire, authorities arrested Dustin Nehl, 31, and his wife, Jennifer Nehl, 44, for impersonating firefighters. They drove a decommissioned fire engine factiously labeled “Roaring River Fire Department” into the evacuation zone on January 17, wearing firefighting gear and carrying radios tuned to emergency frequencies. Nehl had a prior conviction for criminal mischief and arson in Oregon. In the truck, the duo carried tools that could have been used “for burglary or who knows what,” according to one law enforcement source. There is no evidence linking the Nehls to the ignition of the Palisades Fire on January 7. The couple were charged with impersonating firefighters and unauthorized entry into a disaster area.
Almost five months later the cause of the fire has not been officially released, but many residents suspect it was the rekindling of the January 1st fireworks fire.
FACT OR BS? BS.
- Rebuilding costs in Pacific Palisades are between $1,400 and $1,800 per square foot.
Someone wrote that they felt those estimates were too high and said some custom builders who have experience building in the Palisades, Brentwood, and Santa Monica can do it for $500-$600 per ft; and that there are manufactured housing options are in the $400-$500 range.
Those prices sounded low, so CTN contacted Reza Akef, a Palisades High School graduate, owner of Metro Capital Builders, who has 15 years of experience building in the Palisades. He said “depending on the finish selections, slab on grade construction would be $650 to $850 square foot. If you included basement construction, it could run $800 to $950 sq.ft. He was asked about modular homes, which he said, “Surprisingly, good modular homes are going for about $600 to $750 sq. ft.”
Akef said two out-of-area companies told his neighbors they could build for $400 sq.ft.. Akef said that price was concerning because “what are they building – apartment quality homes?” He said that some commercial builders like Thomas James and Homebound have a set price of $650 per sq.ft. for a predesigned semi-custom home.
It appears new construction will run between $650 and $1,000 a sq.ft.
FACT OR BS? BS.
- The Temporary power poles installed in Pacific Palisades after the January 2025 wildfires are permanent and the city has no intention of burying them.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and Southern California Edison (SCE) have publicly committed to undergrounding power lines in the affected areas as part of the rebuilding and wildfire mitigation efforts.
LADWP announced plans to place approximately 4,000 feet of power lines underground in the Palisades area, starting from the substation on Sunset Boulevard. The goal is to have the entire Palisades region equipped with new underground infrastructure to allow undergrounding. Similarly, SCE has committed to burying more than 150 miles of power lines in areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, including Malibu and Altadena. This initiative is part of a broader effort to reduce wildfire risks associated with overhead power lines. Southern California Edison has already started putting lines underground in the area that burned during the Woolsey Fire.
FACT OR BS? BS.
Many of the businesses on Sunset Boulevard survived the Palisades Fire.
Photo: RICH SCHMITT
How did Senator Ben Allen vote on SB 79?
I heard another rumor yesterday. Someone heard that Gelson’s is not coming back and Caruso has purchased the property that Gelson’s was on.
Hi Sue,
Even if I believe in the undergrounding commitments I am still wondering why the utilities are all of a sudden massively replacing wooden poles along the PCH and in many places in the village; those poles surely didn’t play any significant role in the fire. I’ve never in my long PP life seen so many LADWP trucks on our street and generally making the bad traffic situation even worse. Why now, why so urgently?
Which brings me to a related subject. I am sure you remember the big LADWP project to replace all wooden poles on the power lines crossing the SM Mountains (those poles do pose a real fire risk!). The project was delayed for couple of years due to complaints to the Coastal Commission but was finally allowed to proceed in November of 2019 at the Commission meeting in which I testified in favor. However, nearly six years later there is no evidence of any pole replacement activity, at least in the section between Temescal and the Hub which I hike often. My multiple calls to LADWP were left unanswered.
Absolutely spectacular work.
Thank You!!! As always, you are on top of things.
The bill passed with 21 Aye, 13 Nay and six were absent from the vote including Senator Ben Allen.
I saw this story in this week’s LA Business Journal. It may answer a few questions about rebuilding Pacific Palisades: https://labusinessjournal.com/featured/caruso-tackles-rebuilding-l-a/
Not true that Caruso purchased the Gelson’s property–which is now cleared, by the way. The building was purchased by a private investment company in 2019. I called Gelson’s corporate headquarters today, and was told “We want to come back, but there are problems with the City.” When pressed what the problems were, the representative could not say. At an earlier community meeting that Steve Soboroff attended, he said that Gelson’s has a long term lease and planned to rebuild. CTN will follow up to see if more can be learned.
According to reports, the rebuilt schools will only enroll students residing in the Palisades until adequate evacuation routes are established to ensure resident safety. If this is incorrect, how would bringing in hundreds from across the City impact a future evacuation with Sunset as it currently is…