7 On Your Side Investigates obtained video and pictures of the Lachman Fire that was texted between firefighters through public records requests. They give us the first look of the firefight from the firefighters' perspective.
Why was the New Year's Day fire in Pacific Palisades allowed to smolder?
In one photo a firefighter snapped, it almost looks like lava is flowing through the Palisades. Others show flames and how they lit up the Jan. 1 sky.
The images are dramatic - but the firefight which started right after midnight was fast and effective.
At 4:45 a.m., a firefighter on scene texts: "Forward Progress stopped. Hose line completed. Working on mop up and relief plan."
The next day, on Jan. 2 at 1:35 p.m., a battalion chief texts the following to his superiors: "Steep terrain in most of the burn. All hose and equipment has been picked up."
The Battalion Chief also sent a video with a 360-degree view of the burn scar.
You see char and ash in the video, but no smoke is in sight from the vantage point of where the video was taken.
A deputy chief responded with: "Good job. Thank you for the update."
Wildfire experts have told us that was too soon to pull the equipment from this burn scar given how dry conditions were.
Palisades Fire Incident Commander talks mistakes made and lessons learned
But as LAFD Chief Deputy Joe Everett told us in October, he was in contact with the Battalion Chief who led the Lachman firefight.
Everett says he had full faith that those on scene fully put that fire out.
"If we thought for a second that there was any potential of that fire... burning underground, then we would have done anything humanly possible to make that not be an issue," Deputy Chief Everett told 7 On Your Side Investigates.
As 7 On Your Side Investigates previously reported, the LAFD did get a call reporting possible smoke from the Lachman burn scar on Jan. 3.
LAFD tells us after a roughly half hour "extensive investigation" it was determined to be a false alarm. But going forward, the department tells us it will now be monitoring burn scars with heat detecting drones.