LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — Newly obtained video is challenging the official account of how the Pacific Palisades fire started, revealing the deadly blaze that killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures may have been smoldering undetected for days despite 911 calls from concerned hikers.
Video taken Jan. 2 at 11:30 a.m. shows smoke rising from smoldering brush in the Pacific Palisades, five days before the fire reignited Jan. 7 to become one of the most destructive wildfires in American history.
The footage contradicts federal claims that after an initial fire was declared fully extinguished on New Year’s Day, embers continued to burn undetected beneath dense vegetation.
ATF complaint: Palisades Fire started on state land; metadata from ‘smolder’ video corroborates
Authorities allege Jonathan Rinderknecht deliberately set a fire in the Palisades on Jan. 1. Fire crews responded and extinguished what was called the Lachman Fire. But the newly surfaced video shows the fire still smoldering 36 hours later, with no fire crews or hoses in sight.
„When we heard the federal officials announce that the Lachman Fire embers continue to burn undetected, we knew that that wasn’t accurate,“ Roger Behle, an attorney representing Palisades fire victims, told NewsNation.
Behle said multiple hikers who witnessed smoke rising from the ground called 911, but no one was dispatched to investigate.
Hikers called 911 about smoke, but no crews were dispatched to investigate
„Several people in the area that hike that area frequently, when they saw smoke, called 911,“ Behle said. „And ultimately, we know that no one was dispatched to the area to investigate in response to those 911 calls.“
Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Los Angeles office, said in October the blaze was „a holdover fire“ that burned „undetected until catastrophic weather ensued.“
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FILE – Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns multiple structures in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) -
Firefighters watch a helicopter drop water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) -
FILE – A California Department of Corrections hand crew works containment lines ahead of the Palisades Fire, Jan. 14, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File) -
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with California Governor Gavin Newsom as he speaks to the press upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on January 24, 2025, to visit the region devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) -
FILE – Nancy Belanger pours water on a neighbor’s fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File) -
FILE – A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire around a burned structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File) -
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds, the Palisades Fire has grown to over 15,000 acres and 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate while a second major fire continues to burn near Eaton Canyon in Altadena. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images) -
Kevin Marshall sifts through his mother’s fire-ravaged property in the the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher)
But attorneys for fire victims say the state bears responsibility for failing to monitor its property after the initial fire, especially with a red flag high wind warning in effect.
„The fire rekindled on state land, and because the state had an obligation to go out and inspect its property to make sure there were no dangerous conditions like smoldering embers after the Lachman Fire, after reports of smoke coming out of the ground,“ Behle said. „The buck stops with the state.“
Attorneys say state failed to monitor embers on its property after first fire
Michael Castillo, a retired battalion chief and 40-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, agreed the state should have monitored the area more closely.
„The ultimate responsibility would lie with whoever owns that property, ultimately,“ Castillo said. „That would be, in this case, the state. There’s no doubt about it. They’re the property owner — that buck stops with them.“
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he predeployed assets to the area before the fire, but CAL FIRE confirmed not a single fire truck was predeployed to the Palisades.
„There is a breakdown in the command structure at the highest levels of the state of California,“ Castillo said.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office disputed the allegations, calling the lawsuit against the state „baseless“:
This suit against the State is baseless. The State didn’t start this fire (that was an arsonist) and the State wasn’t responsible for responding to or monitoring this fire, but opportunistic plaintiffs’ attorneys are now going after the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
However, both the ATF’s conclusion and a legal land survey conducted by Behle’s team indicate the fire did originate on state property, setting up what appears to be a key dispute that will be decided in court.
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