Overview
- Newly reported text messages indicate firefighters told a battalion chief on Jan. 2 that the Lachman burn area was still smoldering, yet crews were ordered to pull out.
- A department memo shows hose staged at the site was retrieved on Jan. 3, a step the incident commander now says was likely premature in hindsight.
- Chief Deputy Joe Everett says standard mop-up procedures were followed but acknowledges longer checks could have been warranted and announces drone overflights for future monitoring.
- LAFD leaders maintain the later blaze was an undetectable holdover that reactivated under extreme winds, while previously stating crews spent more than 36 hours at the site and returned to look for hot spots.
- Federal prosecutors say the Jan. 1 fire smoldered and was reignited by Santa Ana winds on Jan. 7, fueling the Palisades Fire that burned about 23,448 acres, destroyed roughly 6,800 structures, and killed 12, as suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht contests charges in federal court.