Was the Lachman Fire fully out? Lawsuit and state officials clash over what led to Palisades Fire

Who is to blame? Palisades Fire investigation deepens

Nearly 11 months after the deadly Palisades Fire tore through the Pacific Palisades, the investigation into its cause thickens.

LOS ANGELES - Eleven months after the deadly Palisades Fire tore through Pacific Palisades, the investigation continues into what started the devastating blaze. 

Investigators believe a fire that was intentionally set on New Year's Day, known as the Lachman Fire, reignited on January 7 as hurricane-force Santa Ana winds caused the underground blaze to surface and spread, becoming known as the Palisades Fire.

Now, many people are questioning if the Lachman fire was properly extinguished, and whose responsibility was it to make sure it was? 

What they're saying:

A class action lawsuit, filed by 3,300 fire victims, suggests that new evidence, cell phone videos and pictures, point the blame to the state. 

The photos and videos show a state parks representative talking with LA firefighters on January 2 during a second mop-up. Since the fire burned on state parks land, its reported that the representative told firefighters what they could and couldn't do.  

"Those reports indicate that state park representatives were up there, and they were telling the firefighters that they couldn't use a bulldozer to fight the fire, and in the mop-up they couldn't touch certain plants. The plants were protected. There are reports of state park representatives coming up, while the Lachman Fire was still being fought by firefighters, saying you can't use a bulldozer to fight the fire, which would have been something firefighters may have wanted to use to fight the fire. And then in the mop-up, they went up there, and they had a map, and they said you can't go over here, and you can't touch these plants, you can't do anything to disturb these areas," said attorney Roger Behle. 

The Palisades Fire could have and should have been avoided by the state park if they had followed their own policy, gone up to their land, checked to make sure all of those embers were extinguished as their policy requires. And had they done that, we would not have had the Palisades Fire," Behle added. 

The other side:

In response to those accusations, the California State Parks released a statement saying, "The notion that State Parks favors plants over people is ludicrous. State Parks never hinders an active firefighting response, and firefighting decisions are up to the responding agency. In this instance, the fire in question was deemed by LAFD to be fully contained a few hours after it was started by an arsonist."

Dig deeper:

Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of setting the Lachman Fire just after midnight on January 1, 2025.

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In October, he pleaded not guilty to three federal charges: destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire.

If convicted as charged, he faces up to 45 years behind bars.

By the numbers:

The Palisades Fire is considered one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history. It burned 23,448 acres and destroyed approximately 6,800 structures and ravaged much of the Pacific Palisades community.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Jonathan Rinderknecht, suspect in deadly Palisades Fire, pleads not guilty

Twelve people were killed, and millions of dollars in damages are still being tallied.