A federal grand jury subpoena has been served on the Los Angeles Hearth Division for firefighters’ textual content messages and different communications about smoke or scorching spots within the space of the Jan. 1 Lachman brushfire, which reignited six days later into the huge Palisades hearth, in accordance with an inner division memo.
The Instances reported final week {that a} battalion chief ordered firefighters to pack up their hoses and depart the burn space the day after the Lachman hearth, although they complained that the bottom was nonetheless smoldering and rocks have been scorching to the contact. Within the memo, the division notified its staff of the subpoena, which it stated was issued by the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Los Angeles.
“The subpoena seeks any and all communications, together with textual content messages, associated to studies of fireside, smoke, or hotspots acquired between” 10 p.m. on New 12 months’s Eve and 10 a.m. on Jan. 7, stated the memo, which was dated Tuesday.
A spokesperson with the U.S. lawyer’s workplace declined to verify {that a} subpoena was issued and in any other case didn’t remark. The memo didn’t embody a duplicate of the subpoena.
The memo stated the subpoena was issued in reference to an “ongoing felony investigation” performed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Final month, an ATF investigation led to the arrest of former Pacific Palisades resident Jonathan Rinderknecht, who was charged with intentionally setting the Jan. 1 hearth shortly after midnight close to a trailhead.
It’s unclear from the memo whether or not the subpoena is immediately associated to the case in opposition to Rinderknecht, who has pleaded not responsible.
In the course of the Rinderknecht investigation, ATF brokers concluded that the hearth smoldered and burned for days underground “throughout the root construction of dense vegetation,” till heavy winds brought about it to spark the Palisades inferno, in accordance with an affidavit connected to the felony grievance in opposition to Rinderknecht.
The Palisades hearth, probably the most damaging within the metropolis’s historical past, killed 12 individuals and destroyed 1000’s of properties, companies and different buildings.
Final week, The Instances cited textual content messages amongst firefighters in reporting that crews mopping up the Lachman hearth had warned the battalion chief that remnants of the blaze have been nonetheless smoldering.
The battalion chief listed as being on responsibility the day firefighters have been ordered to go away the Lachman hearth, Mario Garcia, has not responded to requests for remark.
In a single textual content message, a firefighter who was on the scene on Jan. 2 wrote that the battalion chief had been informed it was a “dangerous concept” to go away due to the seen indicators of smoking terrain, which crews feared might begin a brand new hearth if left unprotected.
“And the remaining is historical past,” the firefighter wrote in current weeks.
A second firefighter was informed that tree stumps have been nonetheless scorching on the location when the crew packed up and left, in accordance with the texts. And a 3rd firefighter stated this month that crew members have been upset when informed to pack up and depart however that they may not ignore orders, in accordance with the texts. The third firefighter additionally wrote that he and his colleagues knew instantly that the Palisades hearth was a rekindle of the Jan. 1 blaze.
The Hearth Division has not answered questions in regards to the firefighter accounts within the textual content messages however has beforehand stated that officers did every little thing they may to make sure that the Lachman hearth was totally extinguished. The division has not offered dispatch data of all firefighting and mop-up exercise earlier than Jan. 7.
After The Instances revealed the story, Mayor Karen Bass directed interim Hearth Chief Ronnie Villanueva to launch an investigation into the matter, whereas critics of her administration have requested for an unbiased inquiry.
