The Los Angeles Fire Department finally released its internal investigation of the chaotic and short-handed response to the Palisades Fire — but failed to address the causes of the blaze, including new assertions that it was started by a previous fire that its personnel failed to fully extinguish.
On Wednesday, federal investigators claimed the worst wildfire in California history likely came from a previous blaze, the Lachman Fire, which prosecutors allege was set by firebug Jonathan Rinderknecht on Jan. 1.
According to arson investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, that blaze quietly smoldered for six days until reigniting into the Palisades fire. 3
LAFD’s 70-page after-action report, released Wednesday, fails to address these new details.
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