Whistleblower says Palisades Fire could have been prevented if LAFD leadership followed protocol

LOS ANGELES - A new twist in the Palisades Fire investigation… a whistleblower inside the Los Angeles Fire Department is questioning why critical heat detection equipment used for years to detect lingering heat underground was not deployed before that fire ignited. 

What they're saying:

This firefighter has been with the department for decades. He contacted FOX 11 because he says the public still doesn't know the whole truth about the Palisades Fire. 

"That fire was dead out. If it is determined that was the cause, it would be a phenomena," LAFD Assistant Chief Joe Everett said during a press conference on January 16, 2025, about a small fire that sparked on New Year's Eve.   

But that fire was not dead. Videos posted on social media show the ground smoldering days before the Palisades inferno, and now we are hearing from a veteran LA City firefighter who says the disaster could have been prevented if leadership had followed standard protocol. 

"The arsonist might have started it, but it's our responsibility as a fire department to extinguish it completely. They abandoned it, left it, and went on their way," the unnamed whistleblower said to FOX 11. 

According to the whistleblower, the fire was never fully extinguished and key heat detection technology to find lingering hot spots underground was never deployed.

"FLIR is a tool that we use to see hot spots that we cannot see visually during the daytime. Especially when you have so much overgrowth. This is an absolute necessity tool that we've had for 20 years plus."

The whistleblower noted that the tool could have prevented the Palisades Fire. 

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"If you have infrared cameras showing hot spots that we can't see with a naked eye, we would be able to put those out. And we had seven days to do that, seven full days until this fire broke out. So it rekindled. The department failed. This department takes zero accountability, points a finger to everybody else, when you have hard working men and women with boots on the ground doing the best they can, but we are handcuffed because of the management, the chiefs, the politics and everyone is pointing a finger."

The other side:

The LAFD itself has promoted videos online highlighting its heat-detecting technology, the same tools the whistleblower says weren’t used prior to the Palisades fire. 

 FOX 11 requested an interview with LAFD Interim Chief Ronnie Villanueva, but a statement was issued instead.  

"Holdover fires can be nearly impossible to detect with infrared imaging, as smoldering often occurs deep below the surface, especially in chaparral terrain where dense root systems conceal residual heat. Under extreme winds, low humidity, and prolonged drought, these fires can reignite despite full suppression and containment efforts. The January 7 fire was not a rekindle or due to failed suppression, but the reactivation of an undetectable holdover fire under extraordinary wind conditions," the statement read. 

FOX 11 also requested an interview with Mayor Karen Bass, but her office has not responded.

Twelve people were killed in the Palisades Fire, thousands of homes were destroyed and losses are estimated at $25 billion dollars.

What's next:

Following the airing of this story, the LAFD sent along further information on holdover fires. 

They said in dry, mineral-rich or ash-covered soils, "only the upper inch or two may show measurable temperature differences, making deeper heat pockets virtually invisible to detection equipment." 

The LAFD referred to its Holdover Fires Fact Sheet, which mentions "Chaparral species such as manzanita, chamise, ceanothus, and scrub oak have large lignified root systems that reach deep into the soil to access groundwater — sometimes as far as 15 to 25 feet below the surface."

For more information, you can read the LAFD Palisades Fire After-Action Review Report.