A group of residents from Pacific Palisades and Malibu have filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power (LADWP), accusing the city of gross negligence in connection to the devastating wildfires that destroyed their homes earlier this year.
The suit, filed by 12 homeowners including a Holocaust survivor and a retired Navy pilot, alleges the city failed to take basic precautions that could have prevented or at least mitigated the damage. At the center of the complaint is the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which, according to reports, was nearly empty heading into the height of fire season—a baffling oversight for a city with a history of catastrophic wildfires.
When the fires broke out, fire hydrants in the Palisades ran dry or lost pressure, hindering first responders as homes went up in flames.
According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 1,000 hydrants in the area were known to be in disrepair, yet city officials failed to act. The lawsuit also accuses LADWP of ignoring red flag wind warnings and irresponsibly leaving its electrical infrastructure energized—actions that, residents argue, contributed to the fire’s spread or sparked new spot fires.
“This could have been prevented,” said Crystal Nix-Hines, an attorney representing the residents. “All of that taken together makes the city, including DWP, culpable for the harms that the clients have suffered – losing their homes and all of their valuable possessions.”
This lawsuit is not the only legal challenge LADWP is facing. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the agency, including those by high-profile individuals. Los Angeles County has also filed suit against Southern California Edison over the separate Eaton fire, blaming it on faulty utility equipment.
Ironically, while LADWP failed to maintain the reservoir or repair critical infrastructure, the agency had no problem hiring elite legal counsel back in February—an apparent move to shield itself from accountability rather than invest in public safety.
In the aftermath of the fire, the county announced $3 million would be allocated to help residents test their soil for contaminants like lead and arsenic. Consultants recently told homeowners that while some elements like arsenic may occur naturally, the presence of lead in high concentrations could pose serious health concerns.
The residents’ from the Palisades and Malibu lawsuit sends a clear message: bureaucratic mismanagement and negligence from city authorities are not acceptable—especially when it results in the loss of homes, livelihoods, and irreplaceable memories.
