State Parks Provided Kindling for the January 7 Fire

State Park Official with firefighters on the January 1 Lachman Fire.

A photo showed a State Park official having conversation with LAFD personnel after the January 1 Lachman Fire at the site of that fire in Topanga State Park. Then, texts were uncovered of firefighters commenting that the Lachman fire had not fully been put out. The resulting deadly January 7 Palisades Fire was the result of a rekindling of that earlier fire.

A judge agreed with fire defendants’ lawyers that it was timely to take depositions and the hold on discovery was lifted. Depositions of five State Parks personnel and 12 LAFD Firefighters started December 11. State Parks Personnel were called upon first.

After the Lachman Fire, State Parks personnel requested that firefighters cover a section of a fire break (“containment line”) with unburned brush. This containment line was cut by firefighters during the Lachman Fire to stop the spread of the fire.  State Parks personnel testified that they did this so that members of the public wouldn’t be confused and attempt to use the containment line as a trail.

This containment line was on the southern flank of the Lachman Fire burn scar, close to where the ATF says smoldering embers ignited the Palisades Fire on January 7, 2025.

By covering the containment line with unburned, dry brush, it provided kindling for the January 7 fire.

State Parks has also created “Area Avoidance Maps” to show firefighters where they could not use heavy equipment (i.e., bulldozers) during a wildfire and where ‘modified’ fire suppression techniques were to be used to protect native plant species.

On January 1, 2025, State Parks personnel texted with LAFD Captain Rich Diede, head of LAFD’s bulldozer crew, asking if any bulldozers were being sent to the Lachman Fire. Captain Dide responded, “Heck no, that area is full of endangered plants. I would be a real idiot to ever put a dozer in that area. I’m so trained.”

The first four LAFD firefighter depositions were scheduled to begin on December 18, 2025. On December 16, just two days before, lawyers received an email from attorneys representing the City of Los Angeles indicating that the firefighters wanted to hire private attorneys – rather than being represented by City attorneys.

Those depositions have been postponed to the first part of January 2026, so that all firefighters who want to hire private attorneys have the right to do so.

Attorneys wrote in a December 18 letter to clients, “We interpret this as a sign that firefighters are concerned about potential retaliation against them as ‘whistleblowers’ by the City of Los Angeles. They may have critical things to say about the City and want assurances that the lawyers defending them in their depositions are independently representing their interests.”