Fact Sheet - Fire Rebuild

2025 Palisades Fire Fact Sheet - Weather
Claim		Fact Check		Evidence
A001	100 MPH Wind Speeds	FALSE	No weather station in Los Angeles County recorded 100 MPH wind speeds on January 7, 2025
A002	100 MPH Wind Gusts	FALSE	No weather station in Los Angeles County recorded 100 MPH wind gusts on January 7, 2025
A003	Hurricane Force Winds	FALSE	No weather station in Los Angeles County recorded sustained wind speeds of at least 75 MPH on January 7, 2025, a speed that would meet the minimum definition of a Category 1 hurricane
A004	Historical Drought Conditions	FALSE	California has records of longer droughts prior to the period before January 7, 2025
A005	Historical Drought Preceded by Unprecedented Rains	FALSE	California has records of more precipitations preceding longer droughts prior to the period before January 7, 2025
A006	Unprecedented Wind Event	FALSE	California describes the predicted and precedented seasonal winds as "Santa Ana winds" which have been recorded at far greater speeds for decades preceding January 7, 2025
A007	Unforeseen Weather Conditions	FALSE	The National Weather Service forecasted Santa Ana winds and warned of the forecasted fire risk on January 3, 2025 at 6:55am, at least 99 hours before the 2025 Palisades Fire
A008	Unprecedented Weather Conditions	FALSE	Los Angeles County has mitigated far greater fire risks just within 5 years prior to the 2025 Palisades Fire
A009	Unprecedented Perfect Storm	FALSE	Los Angeles County has mitigated far greater fire risks just within 5 years prior to the 2025 Palisades Fire
A010	Record Breaking Fire Risk	FALSE	Historical records for Pacific Palisades, dating back to 1979, show hundreds of days with a far greater fire risk than was present during the 2025 Palisades Fire.
A011	Weather stations are omitted in the Wind Report	FALSE	All weather stations within a 20 mile radius of Pacific Palisades are included in the report and analysis. Again, no weather station recorded 100 mph winds, 100 mph gusts, or hurricane force winds on Jan 7, 2025.
A012	Only "hobbyist" weather stations are in the Wind Report	FALSE	All weather stations, including federal and state owned as well as public news stations and independent "hobbyist" stations are included in the report. Again, no weather station recorded 100 mph winds, 100 mph gusts, or hurricane force winds on Jan 7, 2025.

2025 Palisades Fire Fact Sheet - Climate
Claim		Fact Check		Evidence
B001	Climate Change	FALSE	Historical records for Pacific Palisades, dating back to 1979, show hundreds of days with a far greater fire risk than was present during the 2025 Palisades Fire. This conclusion is based on ten fire risk metrics fire risk is calculated, all of which showed a higher risk historically than recorded on January 7, 2025: Burning Index (BI), Energy Release Component (ERC), Reference Evapotranspiration (ETR), 100 Hour Dead Fuel Moisture (FM100), 1000 Hour Dead Fuel Moisture (FM1000), Maximum Relative Humidity (RMAX), Minimum Relative Humidity (RMIN), Specific Humidity (SPH), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), and Mean Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD).
B002	Pacific Palisades has the highest Fire Risk	FALSE	The majority of residential areas in California are at an even greater fire risk than Pacific Palisades
B003	The Palisades Fire is a result of Climate Change	FALSE	Climate Change will be the result of the Palisades Fire	Multiple Public
B004	Coastal areas like Pacific Palisades have the greatest fire risk	FALSE	Most residential areas in California are at greater risk than Pacific Palisades. In fact, areas in Altadena and Pasadena (non-coastal areas) are at a far greater risk.

2025 Palisades Fire Fact Sheet - Fire Department
Claim		Fact Check		Evidence
C001	"No one could stop a fire like that"	FALSE	Private fire crews successfully protected both Rick Caruso's Palisades Village and the Getty Villa. Their efforts were so effective that the homes and community surrounding the Getty Villa survived, contrasting sharply with all adjacent properties that were destroyed after being abandoned by the fire department with no effort.	Multiple Public
C002	Los Angeles Fire Department fought the fire	FALSE	The Los Angeles Fire Department was ordered to "stand down" and "let it burn out" at approximately 3:00 PM on January 7, 2025 just 5 hours after the fire began. Multiple witnesses assert the fire department made no attempt to save any person or property.
C003	Los Angeles County Fire Department fought the fire	FALSE	The Los Angeles County Fire Department was ordered to leave Malibu and protect Brentwood. Multiple witnesses assert the fire department made no attempt to save any person or property.
C004	The Fire Department stopped the Palisades Fire	FALSE	The burn scar from the Dec 2024 Franklin Fire stopped the 2025 Palisades Fire from destroying all of Malibu. The Fire Department made no attempt to stop the fire and abandoned Pacific Palisades.
C005	The Fire Department did the best they could	FALSE	Multiple survivors witnessed the fire department making no attempt to save lives or homes on January 7, 2025. Many (including news reporters) note never seeing anyone from the fire department. Water is not needed to knock on doors.
C006	The Fire Department are heroes who risked their lives	FALSE	No heroes were seen by the Pacific Palisades community on January 7, 2025. However, many survivors recorded fire department cowards who laughed as homes burned and at fire victims. This was further evidenced during the Palisades Community Meeting on January 11, 2025, at 6:30 PM, when a hot mic captured the fire department laughing at fire victims for thanking them for their service.
C007	Los Angeles Fire Department was given a standing ovation at both the 2025 Oscars and 2025 Grammy Awards	TRUE	Despite allowing two communities to be completely destroyed and failing to even attempt to do their job, the Los Angeles Fire Department was rewarded, congratulated, and applauded internationally at Los Angeles' two greatest annual award events.
C008	Fire Department puts out fires	FALSE	"They [Fire Department] don't say they put out the fires, they suppress the fires" - Bill Essayli, United States Attorney for the Central District of California

2025 Palisades Fire Fact Sheet - Fire Origin
Claim		Fact Check		Evidence
D001	The Palisades Fire reignited from the Lachman Fire	TRUE	The Jan 7, 2025 Palisades Fire reignited from the Jan 1, 2025 Lachman Fire
D002	The Lachman Fire was fully contained and "dead out"	FALSE	No, the LAFD failed to use thermal/infrared imaging to confirm the Lachman fire was fully out before the Palisades fire rekindled. Interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva and the department’s after-action materials note they decided not to employ thermal checks on the small (8-acre) Lachman incident.
D003	"Underground smoldering can be hard to detect"	FALSE	Multiple witnesses report calling 911 and the fire department with video evidence dated Jan 1 to Jan 6 clearly showing an active fire with smoke emerging from the 8 acre area of the Lachman fire which LAFD failed to fully extinguish.
D004	The State of California, LAFD, and City of Los Angeles are not to blame for the Lachman Fire reigniting	FALSE	The Lachman Fire was on a California State Park. LAFD refused to complete their job in fully extinguishing the fire despite multiple fire fighters requesting to complete the job. National Weather Service forecasted Santa Anna winds on Jan 3. Mayor Karen Bass denied requests from LAFD to pre-deploy fire protection services. Governor Gavin Newsom failed to maintain the overgrown brush on his California State Park where the fire reignited. LAFD failed to respond to witnesses warning of the active fire and smoke days before Jan 7.
D005	The Palisades Fire was caused by arson	FALSE	The Jan 1, 2025 Lachman Fire was allegedly caused by arson from the suspect, Jonathan Rinderknecht.
D006	Fire Fighters were Pre-Deployed	FALSE	Despite Governor Gavin Newsom's false claims, Cal Fire confirmed they were not pre-deployed to state land where the Palisades Fire ignited. Mayor Karen Bass also denied pre-deployment request from city fire department.