LAFD whistleblower exposes alleged department negligence following Palisades Fire mistrial
Firefighter backs mistrial in Palisades Fire arson case
A veteran LA City firefighter says the jury got it right in the mistrial of Jonathan Rinderknecht. The firefighter, who asked FOX 11 to protect his identity, says while an arsonist may have started the Lachman Fire on January 1, the LAFD failed to fully extinguish it in the seven days before the devastating Palisades Fire. FOX 11's Gina Silva tells you more.
LOS ANGELES - An anonymous veteran Los Angeles City firefighter has stepped forward as a whistleblower, leveling damning accusations of negligence against department leadership following a federal mistrial.
The insider claims the fire department’s failure to follow standard safety protocols is directly responsible for allowing a contained blaze to reignite into the destructive Palisades Fire.
What we know:
A federal criminal case against Jonathan Rinderknecht ended in a mistrial after a jury deadlocked, a result that an LAFD whistleblower now claims is entirely justified.
Speaking exclusively to FOX 11 under a guarantee of anonymity, the veteran firefighter revealed that the department failed to properly monitor the initial Lockman fire, allowing it to flare back up seven days later as the devastating Palisades Fire.
The whistleblower's account aligns with a juror from the trial, who confirmed the defense's "holdover fire" theory failed to convince the jury. This juror stated she could not convict Rinderknecht because the department's own negligence played a significant role in the disaster.
SUGGESTED: Palisades Fire trial: Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks
Despite these explosive revelations of internal department failure, federal prosecutors have announced they intend to push forward with a retrial.
Mistrial declared in Palisades Fire arson trial
With jurors again insisting they were hopelessly deadlocked, a mistrial was declared Friday in the arson trial of 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, accused of setting a blaze that grew into the deadly Palisades Fire, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.
What they're saying:
The whistleblower explained that the decision to speak out came from deep frustration with departmental leadership and a desire to maintain the integrity of rank-and-file firefighters.
"Because we have integrity out here in the field, we are ashamed of what our leadership does, we're sick and tired of it," the whistleblower said.
According to the whistleblower, the department completely bypassed standard fire watch protocols after the initial blaze.
"Our job is to put out fires, not to, you know, douse them and leave. So we feel that our job, when do we take responsibility? We should have had engines sitting there the entire time, on fire watch. They could have called in the hand crews. They could've called in infrared drones which are sitting around, which you guys found for a couple of million dollars, but they never used. You could have just had an engine on there, rotating around, every four or five hours, just in case something sparked up. No one did that. They're 100% to blame."
The insider also dismissed the department's official explanation that the fire reignited from an undetectable underground source, accusing leadership of using jargon to evade accountability.
Palisades Fire trial: Jurors speak out after mistrial declared
Jurors spoke to reporters after a Los Angeles federal judge declared a mistrial in the Palisades arson fire.
"Trying to snow you with a deep-rooted, you know, fire? No, it's not. They're giving you guys, you know, words to make it feel better, to make it sound better. We never used those words before… it's their way of trying to screw around responsibility."
An anonymous juror backed up this sentiment, noting that the whistleblower's concerns mirrored the jury's doubts during deliberations.
"I wanted to know has anybody ever gotten in trouble for a holdover fire anywhere else because this holdover theory just wasn't like… it wasn't working for me. I don't see why everybody else's negligence of doing things incorrectly, where he needs to be responsible for the whole policy," the juror said.
What we don't know:
It's unknown if the LAFD will launch an internal investigation into the whistleblower's specific claims regarding the unused infrared drones and missing fire watch rotations.
It is also unclear how many members of the deadlocked jury agreed with the sentiment that the department shared responsibility for the disaster.
What's next:
The whistleblower's public revelations have intensified scrutiny on the LAFD just as federal prosecutors prepare to retry Jonathan Rinderknecht.
The LAFD has yet to provide an official comment in response to the whistleblower's claims.
The Source: This investigative report stems from an exclusive interview by FOX 11 reporter Gina Silva, who obtained firsthand testimony from an anonymous LAFD whistleblower risking his position to expose internal department failures. The report packages these insider revelations alongside direct accounts from a juror on the deadlocked federal case, providing transparency into why the trial collapsed, despite the Los Angeles Fire Department declining to respond to the allegations.