Lawsuit blames downed power lines as second ignition point in Palisades fire

A new lawsuit blames part of the catastrophic Palisades fire — the worst in Los Angeles history — on downed power lines from wooden poles snapped in the hurricane-force winds.

The suit, filed Monday by attorney Alexander Robertson, alleges the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power tried for months to cover up the harm caused by the fallen line. It says the LADWP told the Washington Post days after the fire began Jan. 7 that the line was not energized at the time of the blaze and had not been for the past five years.

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However, the agency reversed itself March 20 in a written statement to Robertson’s law firm, saying the line was indeed active at the time of the blaze that destroyed nearly 7,000 high-end structures and killed 12 people, according to the lawsuit. The LADWP attributed the original statement to a “misunderstanding,” the lawsuit alleges.

The suit alleges there was no misunderstanding, but rather a “despicable” attempt to conceal.

“This was a monumental cover-up by LADWP to conceal from the public that its electrical equipment was the source of several additional ignitions of the Palisades Fire,” says the complaint.

The LADWP also told Robertson’s firm that there were no faults — abnormal conditions within a power distribution system that causes the current to deviate from its normal path — involving the line at the time of the fire, but pictures show the H-frame pole structure had been snapped in half, sending active lines into the brush.

LADWP spokesperson Ellen Cheng said Tuesday that the line in question was energized on the day of the fire, but deenergized before 10:30 p.m., when the lawsuit alleges it ignited the brush. Cheng added that the utility has provided extensive information to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is investigating the origin of the Palisades fire. The ATF, as well as other investigating agencies, have not indicated the LADWP was involved in the ignition of the fire, Cheng said.

According to the suit, the downed line was located above LADWP’s Temescal Water Tank on the Temescal Canyon Trail, allegedly adding to the fire that had begun 12 hours earlier. The suit alleges the fallen line was a second ignition point for the fire, quickly consuming homes in The Summit neighborhood before joining the other wind-driven flames that spread throughout the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

Pictures included in the lawsuit show flames emanating from the area of the broken poles.

The first ignition site is suspected to be at Skull Rock on the Temescal Canyon Trail, where smoldering embers from a previous fireworks blaze may have reignited. An official cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The lawsuit, on behalf of numerous victims, also cites the lack of water from LADWP reservoirs.

The agency’s 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades had been sitting empty for nearly a year, awaiting repairs to its cover. That left the community with only 3 million gallons of water in three separate tanks to fight the fire. The hydrants went dry after 12 hours, according to the lawsuit.

Calling the lack of water “deeply troubling,” Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an independent investigation into the LADWP’s management of the reservoir and water system.