LAFD knew of firefighter complaints about Lachman mop-up and said nothing

"At least one department official learned that a battalion chief had directed the firefighters to pack up their hoses and leave the scene of the Lachman fire Jan. 2, even though they complained that the ground was still smoking in places and rocks remained hot to the touch, according to a source who was briefed on the matter in June."

"The report, which was released last month and intended to identify shortcomings in the LAFD's preparedness and response, only briefly mentioned the prior blaze, even though its role in starting the Palisades fire was clear to firefighters. According to the report, on the morning of Jan. 7, an LAFD captain called Fire Station 23 - one of two stations in Pacific Palisades - to say that the Lachman fire had started up again."

"'We won't leave a fire that has any hot spots,' Kristin Crowley, the fire chief at the time, said at a community meeting Jan. 16, after the Palisades fire killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. 'That fire was dead out,' Chief Deputy Joe Everett said at the same meeting, adding that he was out of town but communicating with the incident commander. 'If it is determined that was the cause, it would be a phenomenon.'"

For months victims demanded information while the Los Angeles Fire Department concealed that firefighters were ordered to stop mop-up operations on a small brushfire that smoldered and later reignited into the Jan. 7 Palisades fire. At least one official learned a battalion chief directed crews to pack up hoses and leave the Lachman fire on Jan. 2 despite reports of smoking ground and hot rocks. The department omitted detailed examination of the reignition from its after-action report and only briefly noted the prior blaze, while early public statements insisted the Lachman fire had been fully extinguished.

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