The city postponed release of a report on the Palisades fire after the U.S. attorney's office requested withholding to avoid interfering with a federal probe. The Palisades fire began around 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 7 amid high winds, killed 12 people and largely destroyed a Westside neighborhood. Investigators are examining whether a New Year's Day blaze called the Lachman fire, which firefighters believed was extinguished, might have reignited. There are no power poles near the origin and the trail area is well traveled, so a person could have caused the blaze. The report could clarify the Fire Department's response; the mayor removed Fire Chief Kristin Crowley after the event, and Fire Department officials had chosen not to pre-deploy engines or firefighters to the Palisades.
The city has delayed releasing a report detailing its handling of the Palisades fire so as not to interfere with a federal investigation into the cause of the blaze, the mayor announced Tuesday. The U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California made the request late last week, the mayor said. The city will not release the report until the conclusion of the federal investigation.
Much of the focus of the investigation has been on whether a blaze sparked by fireworks a week earlier - which firefighters believed they had put out - might have reignited. That fire, called the Lachman fire, was reported on New Year's Day, and forward progress was stopped after just a few hours. Still, investigators have not determined whether the fire was sparked on Jan. 7.
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