SURVIVORS OF THE PALISADES FIRE FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firms of Robertson & Associates, LLP, and Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis, LLP filed a mass tort lawsuit on January 13, 2025 on behalf of the survivors of the deadly Palisades Fire against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for property damage and personal injuries suffered by residents of Pacific Palisades, one of the communities devastated during the fast-moving Palisades Fire. The Palisades Fire began January 7, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m. southeast of Palisades Drive in Pacific Palisades, California. The fire has become the worst natural disaster in the history of the City of Los Angeles, having destroyed at least 5,300 homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Topanga Canyon, and having caused burn injuries to numerous civilians and injuries to firefighters. The Palisades Fire has killed at least eight (8) people.

"The water supply system servicing Pacific Palisades failed miserably, leaving residents and firefighters with little to no water to fight the blaze," said Roger Behle, one of the Plaintiffs' attorneys. Behle, whose family lost their home to wildfire in 2020, continued: "The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117- million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was empty, and had been empty for nearly a year." LADWP made the conscious decision not to timely repair the Santa Ynez Reservoir cover, leaving the reservoir drained and unusable, all as a "cost-saving" measure. "As a result, residents in one of the most affluent and highest-taxed areas in the nation were denied one of the most basic things a government should provide: water," said Behle.

On, January 10, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered an independent investigation of the LADWP over the loss of water pressure and deliberate shut down of the Santa Ynez Reservoir by the LADWP, calling it "deeply troubling." The Governor further acknowledged that the loss of water pressure "likely impaired" the ability of firefighters to protect homes and evacuation corridors in Pacific Palisades.

Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis, LLP has represented thousands of wildfire victims of the 2018 Woolsey Fire, the 2017 Thomas Fire, the 2020 Bobcat Fire, the 2023 Maui Fire, and other wildfires throughout California, Oregon, and Hawaii. Roger N. Behle, Jr., is a partner at Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis and brings more than 30 years' litigation experience to the firm and has tried multiple federal and state jury trials through verdict, including nationally publicized cases.

Contact:

Roger Behle & Robert Curtis, Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis, LLP (714) 556-1700
[email protected]
[email protected]

www.foleybezek.com

Alexander "Trey" Robertson, IV, Robertson & Associates, LLP (818) 851-3850
[email protected]
www.arobertsonlaw.com

SOURCE Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis