Victims of Palisades Fire sue LADWP over water supply issues
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A group of residents impacted by the Palisades Fire is suing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, alleging the city and its agency was unprepared.
"The Palisades Fire has been a traumatic event for its victims, who through no fault of their own, went from homeowners to homeless in a matter of hours," according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.
The plaintiffs allege the water supply system servicing the Pacific Palisades area failed on the day of the fire and played a "substantial factor" in causing devastating losses.
The Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, had been empty for nearly a year, according to the lawsuit.
RELATED: Why was 117-million-gallon capacity reservoir not used during Palisades firefight?
"The Santa Ynez Reservoir had been out of commission since February of 2024, awaiting repairs to its cover," the lawsuit states. "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."
The lawsuit also said some fire hydrants went dry. In addition, LADWP is accused in the suit of being unprepared for the fire despite the National Weather Service issuing an urgent warning of extreme fire danger.
"Had the LADWP acted responsibly, the damage caused by the Palisades Fire could have been greatly reduced," the lawsuit said.
The suit seeks damages for the costs, repair and replacement of damaged or destroyed property, cost for alternative living expenses, loss of wages, earning capacity or profits and any other relief a court deems appropriate.
In a statement issued last week, the LADWP said the utility "was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations. To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter's competitive bidding process which requires time.
"The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing. LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community's typical needs."
DWP officials said a drop in water pressure experienced by fire crews was "due to unprecedented and extreme water demand to fight the wildfire without aerial support. This impacted our ability to refill the three water tanks supplying the Palisades causing the loss of suction pressure. This impacted 20 percent of the hydrants in the area, mostly in the higher elevations."
Gov. Gavin Newsom last week directed an independent investigation into reports of loss of water pressure to fire hydrants and the unavailability of water supplies from the reservoir.
A former LADWP official told ABC News that access to the reservoir may have helped early on in the firefight, but it would not have been enough to fight the fire.
"It could have made some difference in supporting the pressure loss early on, but it would not have lasted the whole fire," Martin Adams, who was recently retired after 40 years of working at LADWP, most recently as General Manager, told ABC News last week.
ABC News and City News Service contributed to this report.
