A federal grand jury subpoena has been served on the Los Angeles Fire Department for firefighters’ textual content messages and different communications about smoke or scorching spots within the space of the Jan. 1 Lachman brushfire, which reignited six days later into the huge Palisades fireplace, in keeping with an inner division memo.
The Times reported final week {that a} battalion chief ordered firefighters to pack up their hoses and depart the burn space the day after the Lachman fireplace, though they complained that the bottom was nonetheless smoldering and rocks had been scorching to the contact. In the memo, the division notified its workers of the subpoena, which it mentioned was issued by the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Los Angeles.
“The subpoena seeks any and all communications, together with textual content messages, associated to studies of fireside, smoke, or hotspots obtained between” 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 10 a.m. on Jan. 7, mentioned the memo, which was dated Tuesday.
A spokesperson with the U.S. lawyer’s workplace declined to substantiate {that a} subpoena was issued and in any other case didn’t remark. The memo didn’t embrace a replica of the subpoena.
The memo mentioned the subpoena was issued in reference to an “ongoing legal investigation” carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Last month, an ATF investigation led to the arrest of former Pacific Palisades resident Jonathan Rinderknecht, who was charged with intentionally setting the Jan. 1 fireplace shortly after midnight close to a trailhead.
It is unclear from the memo whether or not the subpoena is instantly associated to the case towards Rinderknecht, who has pleaded not responsible.
During the Rinderknecht investigation, ATF brokers concluded that the fireplace smoldered and burned for days underground “inside the root construction of dense vegetation,” till heavy winds prompted it to spark the Palisades inferno, in keeping with an affidavit hooked up to the legal criticism towards Rinderknecht.
The Palisades fireplace, essentially the most damaging within the metropolis’s historical past, killed 12 folks and destroyed 1000’s of houses, companies and different constructions.
Last week, The Times cited textual content messages amongst firefighters in reporting that crews mopping up the Lachman fireplace had warned the battalion chief that remnants of the blaze had been nonetheless smoldering.
The battalion chief listed as being on obligation the day firefighters had been ordered to go away the Lachman fireplace, Mario Garcia, has not responded to requests for remark.
In one textual content message, a firefighter who was on the scene on Jan. 2 wrote that the battalion chief had been informed it was a “dangerous concept” to go away due to the seen indicators of smoking terrain, which crews feared may begin a brand new fireplace if left unprotected.
“And the remainder is historical past,” the firefighter wrote in current weeks.
A second firefighter was informed that tree stumps had been nonetheless scorching on the location when the crew packed up and left, in keeping with the texts. And a 3rd firefighter mentioned this month that crew members had been upset when informed to pack up and depart however that they may not ignore orders, in keeping with the texts. The third firefighter additionally wrote that he and his colleagues knew instantly that the Palisades fireplace was a rekindle of the Jan. 1 blaze.
The Fire Department has not answered questions concerning the firefighter accounts within the textual content messages however has beforehand mentioned that officers did every part they may to make sure that the Lachman fireplace was absolutely extinguished. The division has not supplied dispatch information of all firefighting and mop-up exercise earlier than Jan. 7.
After The Times printed the story, Mayor Karen Bass directed interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva to launch an investigation into the matter, whereas critics of her administration have requested for an unbiased inquiry.
