LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Palisades homeowners Spencer and Heidi Pratt along with other fire victims have filed suit today in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the City of Los Angeles for the City's failure "to properly construct, inspect, maintain and operate its water supply system” that led to the destruction of their home by the Palisades Fire.
"The Palisades Fire was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the egregious failure of the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades, including having an empty water reservoir. This failure was a substantial factor in causing my clients and others to suffer enormous losses,” stated Peter McNulty of the McNulty Law Firm, attorney for the Pratts.
With the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) as lead defendants, the suit notes, "The Santa Ynez Reservoir, the reservoir that services Pacific Palisades, was completely offline and emptied before the fires erupted in the area, leaving fire crews little-to-no water to fight the Palisades Fire. The Santa Ynez Reservoir had been out of commission since February of 2024. LADWP made the conscious decision to operate the water supply system with the reservoir drained and unusable as a 'cost-saving' measure. With the Santa Ynez Reservoir effectively out of commission, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three tanks each holding one million gallons of water went dry within a span of 12 hours.”
McNulty added. "The City of Los Angeles deliberately designed and maintained the water supply system in this way, despite Los Angeles being in a fire-prone area. In the last 90 years, for example, more than 30 wildfires have scorched parts of neighboring Malibu. We intend to hold the City of Los Angeles accountable.”
Other Pacific Palisades Fire victims are welcome to contact the McNulty Law Firm directly at 1-213-329-4222.
CONTACT: CONTACT:
K.B. Forbes +1 202-320-1212
Voice or Text
