It’s been nearly one year since a devastating wildfire tore through the tight-knit coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles — but the anger in the community hasn’t cooled — it’s hardened.
Residents who lost their homes, neighbors and entire blocks say the blaze did more than just burn through their community — it ripped the lid off a government failure years in the making.
“I have so much rage against the administration, not just LA, but statewide,” Palisades fire survivor Trish Alison told The Post. “I don’t know how these so-called leaders go to bed at night thinking they’re good people. We were left to burn.”
“Our house just exploded,” resident Oren Ezra said, describing the moment flames tore through his neighborhood. “From that point on, there was nothing.”
Residents say what failed them wasn’t exotic or unforeseeable, it was basic.
“Small things. Basic things,” one resident said in a video produced by the California Post ahead of the fire’s one-year anniversary. “Instead of help, we got bureaucracy. Red tape. Silence.”
The video, filmed as the anniversary approaches, captures raw frustration still boiling across the burn zone.
“It’s amazing the failing up you can do in this state,” said Ron Goldschmidt, a Palisades fire survivor who lost everything in the 2025 fires. “We’ve seen it time and again in California politics. People just fail up.”
“We are resilient and finding out the answers we need, even if our government is not giving them to us,” said Kaye Steinsapir.
Stay up to date with the NYP’s coverage of the terrifying LA-area fires
- A timeline of the LA Fires — from early weather warnings to rampant blazes
- ‘Extreme’ risk of LA fires spreading, new blazes sparking with return of dangerous 75 mph Santa Ana winds
- Trump anticipates rising death toll in LA wildfires: ‘We’re gonna find many bodies and many more, many more dead’
- Deadly Palisades Fire set ‘maliciously’ by Florida firebug Jonathan Rinderknecht, feds say
The January fires killed at least 31 people and destroyed roughly 17,000 structures countywide.
The Post reached out to Gov. Gavin Newsom with specific questions about the fire and the one-year anniversary video.
The governor sent some recycled talking points in which his office flatly rejected the allegation that California State Parks policies allowed the Lachman fire to reignite as the Palisades fire, saying Topanga State Park sits within Los Angeles city limits, that fire response is LAFD’s responsibility and not the state’s, and that Parks has no role in directing firefighting operations.
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Newsom’s office also rejected claims of inaction, pointing to billions spent on wildfire prevention, expanded CAL FIRE staffing, a massive aerial firefighting fleet, and the pre-deployment of engines ahead of the fires.
His office said the governor has increased forest and vegetation management funding tenfold since 2019, nearly doubled CAL FIRE staffing, and ordered one of the largest winter engine pre-deployments in state history the day before the fires ignited, citing extreme forecast conditions.
On the ground, residents aren’t buying it.
“I remember people thinking, a year or two, we’ll be back,” said Goldschmidt. “I think the long-term reality is setting in.”
“When it comes to City Hall and Sacramento, negligence is the only word I can come up with for January 7,” said Palisades resident Will Durghalli.
