'It's a blanket of silence': Fire victims' attorneys accuse city of blocking Palisades fire transparency

"Attorneys for the city of Los Angeles moved this week to block the release of long-awaited depositions of firefighters that could provide a deeper understanding of their decisions and actions in the days leading up to the deadly Palisades fire. The attorneys representing the city in a lawsuit brought by Palisades fire victims invoked a general protective order the parties agreed to in June, which allows any side to designate all or part of any testimony in the case as confidential."

"The Los Angeles Fire Department has faced growing scrutiny of its handling of the New Year's Eve Lachman fire ever since federal officials revealed that its embers rekindled into the Jan. 7 Palisades blaze that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. In October, the Times that an LAFD battalion chief ordered firefighters to pick up their hoses from the Lachman burn scar on Jan. 2, even though crews warned that the ground was still smoldering."

"But it is still not clear why LAFD made those decisions. More than a year after the Palisades fire, the public has yet to hear directly from firefighters about their mop up of the Lachman fire. The depositions of a dozen firefighters over the next two weeks - part of the lawsuit against the city and state - offer the public a rare opportunity to hear firefighters' accounts of what happened."

"The depositions began Monday with the testimony of Capt. Cesar Garcia and Firefighter Michael Contreras. Garcia and Contreras worked at Fire Station 23, one of the two stations in the Palisades, at the time of the fires. As their examinations were wrapping up, attorneys representing the city said they were provisionally designating both depositions confidential under the protective order, according to"

City attorneys invoked a June general protective order to provisionally designate firefighter depositions confidential, pausing public release while parties confer during the allowed confidentiality period. The Los Angeles Fire Department faces growing scrutiny after federal officials said embers from the New Year's Eve Lachman fire rekindled into the Jan. 7 Palisades blaze that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Reports indicate an LAFD battalion chief ordered crews to pick up hoses on Jan. 2 despite smoldering ground and without using thermal imaging. Depositions of a dozen firefighters, starting with Capt. Cesar Garcia and Firefighter Michael Contreras, could clarify mop-up decisions.

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