LOS ANGELES, California — Billionaire developer and former L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso shared a report Saturday that alleges the Palisades Fire was manageable, implying local officials failed in their duties.
Caruso, who protected his own Palisades Village mall using private firefighters and mobile water tankers, cited the report as evidence that city officials could have prepared for the fire and stopped its spread.
The report disputes the claim that there was nothing officials could have done because of the unprecedented strength of the winds, or the dry local conditions, which some have claimed were a result of climate change.
Rather, the report says, the winds were within historically manageable levels for the first several hours of the fire, and dry conditions were normal for California, following two rainy winters (and before rains arrived).
It says:
This report concludes that the January 7, 2025 Pacific Palisades fire occurred under historically typical, predictable, and manageable weather conditions, contrary to false public claims of unprecedented or unmanageable factors. Analysis of data from 48 weather stations shows wind speeds were well below hurricane thresholds and did not trigger high wind warnings; drought conditions aligned with normal Southern California climate cycles; and multiple agencies issued accurate early fire weather forecasts. These facts directly refute misleading narratives that extreme conditions caused the fire’s spread. The only unprecedented aspect was the failure to contain the fire despite ample warnings and manageable conditions.
The report appears on the website of an organization called Fire Rebuild, “an independent voice that stands for transparency, justice, and recovery.” It is one of many such local groups formed in the wake of the fire.
Caruso lost to Karen Bass in 2022. Bass apparently intends to run for re-election in 2026 despite low poll numbers and perceptions that she failed in the Palisades Fire. Caruso has not yet said whether he will run.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
