Home Care In Pacific Palisades, CA

While McChrystal Group’s After Action report on the Los Angeles County response to January’s wildfires leaned mostly on the response to the Eaton fire, it did include references to the response to the Palisades disaster on the same day, Jan. 7.

The report, released on Thursday and commissioned by county officials, detailed the contrasts between the responses to the fires by county agencies, but also similarities in how evacuations were executed.

It noted that the response to the Palisades fire benefited from a “strong interagency coordination,” with resources that were pre-positioned, with “tested evacuation strategies.”

Those advantages were heightened because the fire broke out during the day in a community more familiar with wildfire risks, with nearby Malibu often the scene of fires.

But in Altadena, the dynamics were vastly different. The Eaton Fire ignited in the evening amid fierce winds, darkness and power outages. It also occurred in a town not as accustomed to fires scorching through neighborhoods, the report said.

Here’s more on what the report laid out to the response in the Palisades.

– The county issued 51 zone status changes for the Palisade Fire, which included 32 evacuation warnings and 19 evacuation orders.

– For both fires, the report identified systemic issues that impacted the alert and evacuation response, such as outdated and inconsistent policies, protocols and standard operating procedures that created ambiguity around evacuation authority and responsibilities.

– For the Palisades fire, the county’s Office of Emergency Management sent a message with the first emergency alert and notification at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, based on Incident Command’s decision to issue an evacuation warning for Sunset Mesa.

– Given prior experience with the Woolsey Fire in 2018 and the Franklin Fire in 2024, along with the Santa Monica Mountains’ high-risk designation for wildfires, the L.A. County Fire Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department worked side-by-side — initially as part of Incident Command, agencies quickly responding to the fire, and joining forces later in Unified Command, meaning all agencies and jurisdictions working together — at 11:36 a.m.

The Unified Command is a structure that brings together the Incident Commanders of the major organizations involved in the incident in order to coordinate an effective response, while at the same time allowing each to carry out their own jurisdictional, legal, and functional responsibilities.

– The Palisades Fire affected more than 20,000 people and destroyed 6,837 structures, including homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as power, sewer and water systems. Similarly, the Eaton Fire impacted nearly 23,000 people, destroyed approximately 9,400 structures, and damaged more than 1,000 more.

– The Palisades Fire claimed 12 lives and caused at least four non-fatal injuries. The Eaton Fire resulted in at least 19 confirmed deaths and nine non-fatal injuries.

– In both the Eaton and Palisades fires, residents said that while evacuating, they encountered blocked roads and did not witness any emergency personnel helping to direct traffic.

– The report recommended that the efforts and expectations in the Palisades area be used to develop standard baseline efforts, procedures and activities across the county for fire preparedness.

Eight Pacific Palisades properties, including a mansion featured in the HBO series "Succession," could face hefty bills for failing to clear debris from the January wildfires.

Los Angeles' Board of Building and Safety Commissioners declared the properties public nuisances on Oct. 8 after they missed the deadline to cleanup hazardous debris after the Palisades Fire.

"You can see some of the insides and it looks like a public nuisance," resident Nida Barber said. "Some of it looks like it could be historical but it's just an eysore. I get how [the city] would think that."

In the wake of the wildfire, residents and businesses had two options for hazardous debris removal: a free program through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or pay for private contractors to do it.

The eight proporties are a mix of businesses, large estates, apartment complexes and a mobile home park. Federal workers and private constractors cleared streets, including Barber's, relatively quickly. However, she said the larger properties lagged behind.

"I think maybe the people who have not been paid out yet are dragging their feet because they're still waiting, or maybe they're litgating," Barber said. "Their price tag is a lot higher."

Councilwoman Traci Park's office, which represents the Pacific Palisades, said its top concern is the potential environmental impact from toxins left behind at these properties. Park's office said it is exploring all available options to clear the debris.

The Pacific Palisades fire that erupted in Los Angeles County on January 7, 2025, spread rapidly throughout surrounding areas. Southern California firefighters and officials struggled to contain the fire that burned thousands of acres and homes. Residents in Pacific Palisades — including celebrities — lost their homes and abandoned their cars to escape the hazardous smoke and flames. Now that an arrest has been made nine months later, many wonder how the fire started in the first place.

Learn more about the dangerous Palisades fire, its destruction and the October 2025 arrest below.

How Did the Pacific Palisades Fire Start?

Officials indicated that extremely high winds worsened the fire. Wind gusts increased overnight on January 7, and multiple outlets reported that gusts reached up to 100 miles per hour in certain parts of L.A. County.

After the fires were contained, officials considered the option of arson. However, that hasn’t been proven yet.

How Many Fires Affected L.A. Right in January 2025?

There were 14 fires in total throughout the state of California in January 2025, mostly in San Diego and Los Angeles County. The largest fires were the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, which affected Pasadena and Altadena.

Who Was Arrested for the Palisades Fire?

Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Florida resident, was arrested in connection to the Palisades fire on suspicion of “maliciously” igniting it. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in October 2025 that Rinderknecht started the Lachman Fire in the Pacific Palisades on January 1 — days before the massive inferno ravaged the region.

“He is charged with starting the Palisades Fire. He started it on January 1,” Essayli indicated, per CBS.

The Lachman Fire initially affected about eight acres and did not destroy structures, but investigations later revealed that the Santa Ana winds could have rekindled embers that led to the Palisades Fire in the same location.

Earlier this year, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNN there were “some indications that arson is a possibility that we have to be open to.”

A burned-down hilltop mansion once featured in HBO’s “Succession” is one of eight Pacific Palisades properties declared a public nuisance by Los Angeles city officials who alleged that the owner still hasn’t removed fire ash and debris.

The Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, a five-member committee that adjudicates public nuisance cases, voted Oct. 8 that the fire debris at the eight properties — a mix of luxury estates, multifamily apartments and businesses — constituted a public nuisance and could pose a risk to public health and safety. City officials alleged that the owners of these properties failed to meet the Oct. 2 deadline to clear hazardous fire debris.

The board’s vote pressures owners to clean up the toxic debris — or prepare for a city contractor to step in, clear their lots and send them a bill for the work.

“Once a property is declared a public nuisance, the owner has the right to abate the nuisance until the department solicits bids for the work,” said Gail Gaddi, a spokesperson for the L.A. Department of Building and Safety. “A process or timeline has not been established for when the department will begin to solicit bids.”

The board voted to cite a burned-down mansion in the 1600 block of North San Onofre Drive, which was the filming location in Season 4 of the HBO drama “Succession” as the luxury estate of the Roy siblings. The six-bedroom, 18-bathroom home, which last sold for $83 million in 2021, is owned by a trust, according to public records.

After the Palisades fire, the owner withdrew from the federal debris removal program led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, fearing that the government contractors were inflexible and would haphazardly remove salvageable sections of the estate, according to Jon Mansfield, a representative of the owner who appeared at the board meeting on its behalf.

“There’s millions of dollars of [building materials] that we were afraid would be destroyed in the process and further degrade the value of the property,” Mansfield said.

But the property’s owner, which had a California FAIR Plan policy that provides basic fire insurance for high-risk properties, learned that a private debris cleanup would cost between $500,000 and $600,000. They tried to reenroll in the corps program but registration had already closed, Mansfield said.

Mansfield said the owner would be prepared to hire a contractor to gather up the rubble in four to six weeks, after it received insurance proceeds.

At the board hearing, Steven Bardack, who owns the home next door, said the San Onofre estate was one of the most expensive purchases in recent memory within the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood. He argued that the owner’s wealth does not give it the right to extra leniency.

“That should not afford him or anybody else special treatment,” Bardack said. “The site remains toxic, and several families with small children have refused to move back into the neighborhood, fearing the toxicity.”

All of the properties deemed a public nuisance either had opted out of the federal debris removal program, or were deemed ineligible. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to clear some multifamily buildings where the owner did not reside.

One such example is the Pacific Palisades Bowl, a 170-unit mobile home park near Will Rogers State Beach.

Danielle Mayer, an attorney whose law firm represents PPBME Park Manager, which co-manages the park, had asked the commission for more time before declaring the property a public nuisance. She said the property was fenced off and posed no risk to the public.

“I just wanted to start out by saying we just received notice of this on Friday afternoon,” Mayer said. “The owner stumbled upon this. So I wanted to start out by asking if we could continue this to another hearing date, to give us more time and an opportunity to be heard as to the substance of the property being a public nuisance.”

Mayer’s remarks were met with skepticism by Commissioner Javier Nunez.

“How does an owner ‘stumble’ upon a document or notice on a Friday and you’re here on Wednesday? How does that happen?” Nunez asked.“Go back to the owner and say ‘Commissioner Nunez is saying, I don’t believe it.’” About five former residents from the Pacific Palisades Bowl attended the meeting. They urged commissioners to vote to deem the property a safety hazard and require fire debris be removed immediately.”

Joseph Vermuelen, who had lived in the park for 29 years, said he worried that autumn rains would wash toxic ash onto neighboring beaches and into the ocean.

“I’ve lived through a lot of storms, and this is a very hilly area, and all of the homes’ lots just flow directly onto the streets of the park, and then it all runs down to the PCH,” Vermuelen said. “There’s a steel grate, and the water runs underneath the grate, underneath the tunnel, below PCH, and right onto the sand and right out into the bay. This is a real public hazard.”

Owners of five properties did not attend.

Some property owners disputed the board’s accusations.

Robert Assil, who owned a home in the 16800 block of West Bollinger Drive, said private contractors had finished clearing the property weeks ago.

Jerome Eisenberg, who has owned a 12-unit apartment building in the 16500 block of West Sunset Boulevard for about 30 years, said he had difficulty finding contractors he could afford.

Eisenberg said he applied for the Army Corps program, but he was notified June 28 — two days before the initial deadline to clear fire debris — that his property did not qualify for the federal cleanup because it was considered commercial property. Eisenberg said he asked for FEMA to reconsider and requested an exception, and was rebuffed again.

“They cleared every other lot for free,” Eisenberg said, referring to the fact that the federal program bills a homeowner’s insurance and has no out-of-pocket costs. He said he “never received a notification until 48 hours before the deadline.”

Without federal help, Eisenberg said, he sought out several quotes from private contractors, receiving cost estimates ranging from $60,000 to $175,000. But his insurance payout was far less than that.

“I only have $25,000 for insurance and that wasn’t going to pay for it,” he said.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Eisenberg, like other property owners who didn’t qualify for the federal cleanup, will have to find a way to bring their properties back up to code. Otherwise, the city can dispatch a contractor to gather up the debris and potentially demolish irreparably damaged portions of their buildings.

As of Wednesday, the city said it had not solicited bids to hire contractors to clear debris from the properties.

On Wednesday, a community already traumatized by fire had to absorb another hit.

Thousands of homes were lost in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, and residents are now trying to take in the latest revelation — federal officials’ finding as to what started the blaze.

For many, it’s hard to come to terms with.

First, authorities charged Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, with intentionally setting a fire Jan. 1 that, days later, would roar to life as the Palisades fire.

Second, they learned that fire crews thought they had extinguished the blaze, called the Lachman fire, on New Year’s Day. In fact, it was still smoldering. Winds on Jan. 7 brought it back to life.

Rinderknecht has not entered a plea and could not be reached for comment.

“I was happy to hear it wasn’t some dumb teenagers, because we thought that it was fireworks,” said Matt Kunitz, who lives in Pacific Palisades. “My wife and I thought that would’ve destroyed [some] kid’s life … whereas, in this case, it sounds like an adult arsonist.”

At the Palisades Garden Cafe, residents spoke among themselves about the sorrow surrounding the fire and subsequent recovery effort.

Kamron Zar, another resident, said the identification might help to bring some “closure” to the Palisades community for the time being.

“I think that a lot of us were just wondering for a while how it started, why it started, who started it,” Zar said. “If this is the person who did it, have them figure out how and why he started it.”

But with many still mired in recovery and reconstruction efforts, Kunitz believes others may not be satisfied with the findings from authorities.

“I mean, the trauma is done, so whether it was intentional or, you know, a fireworks accident, that’s the same,” Kunitz said.

Closer to Skull Rock Trailhead, near the origin of the fire, a neighborhood overlooking both the wilderness and the sea is quiet, aside from the occasional trudging machinery.

The grass near the trail is dry and wheat-colored but slowly recovering in small, verdant sections. There is an occasional jogger coasting down the hilly roads, but the streets are most populated by bulldozers and construction trucks.

Recovery from the fire is slow but ongoing, said Stacy Mitchell, who lives just a mile from the blaze’s ignition point.

“Things are going in the right direction, but there are a lot of people I know who can’t [recover and rebuild] because they don’t have money or things like that,” Mitchell said. “It’s not as easy as it should be.”

The state of recovery could be seen Wednesday. In the bare wooden foundations of buildings in the process of reconstruction. In the charred ruins that look almost Roman, although these buildings stood only a year ago. In the busy avenues populated not by residents but by construction workers and carpenters laying the groundwork for a new Palisades.

Mitchell’s husband is a contractor, so she was able to move back into her home much sooner than her neighbors. Though she believes it is a good sign that authorities have arrested a suspect, she said that many were still reeling from the sudden loss of their homes.

“It’s not really bringing any closure to me,” Mitchell said. “I still have to go to Santa Monica to get groceries, or I still have to wait for the post office to open. … I mean I can’t even go out to dinner.”

As she left, Mitchell looked to her left and right — at the sea and to the trailhead — and walked back to her house just past an open construction site.

Jon Brown, whose family lived at the devastated Pacific Palisades Bowl mobile home park, had his own view.

“I think this is only going to infuriate people, to be honest,” Brown said. “They think that they have done something by finding the guy who did it, but they’re really going to fan the flames on what everybody is really pissed about.

“Why wasn’t the fire put out on the 1st?”

Times staff writer Tony Briscoe contributed to this report.