A number of wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against the city of Los Angeles as families aimed to meet a year-end deadline.
Attorney Roger Behle, whose firm is representing several of the cases, told The New York Post, “It’s a complete failure by the government on multiple levels. The fire shouldn’t have started in the first place. That should have been something the state prevented. But once it starts, that’s where the city in its infrastructure steps in and says, all right, well, let’s at least give the firefight some water.”
According to the outlet, 16 wrongful death lawsuits were filed in the last few weeks of December.
“The state really had an obligation to be up there on its own property and accordance with its own protocol, inspecting its land, you know, closing the park down to make sure there were no hotspots or any of the public safety issue and they just didn’t do anything,” Behle explained.
Last year, residents from the Pacific Palisades and Malibu filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power (LADWP), accusing the city of gross negligence. The suit was filed by 12 homeowners and alleges the city failed to take basic precautions that could have mitigated the damage.
Another lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of fire victims has added new defendants, including Southern California Edison, SoCal Gas/Sempra Energy, the J. Paul Getty Trust, several LA County water districts, state agencies, and several companies such as AT&T. “Responsibility for the tragic wildfire should be shared by many entities, in addition to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the State of California,” said CEO of Frantz Law Group James Frantz.
