California Post’s Joel Pollak’s detailed investigation into California Wildfires has revealed that the massive disaster, one of the biggest fires in history, was reportedly preventable.
However, California’s “Let It Burn” policy, Mayor Karen Bass’ overseas trip and budget cuts allegedly caused hindrance to the prevention plan.
According to Pollak’s study, published in The New York Post, the fire initially started on a much smaller scale on January 1, 2025, by alleged arsonist Jonathan Rinderknecht.
His federal indictment revealed that the Lachman Fire began “on land owned by the local Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority… and spread onto land owned by California State Parks (Topanga State Park).”
While firefighters eventually put out the fire, they returned to the scene on January 2, 2025, to check if the blaze was fully contained.
However, text messages uncovered by the Los Angeles Times later revealed that they were allegedly ordered to leave the venue “even though they complained the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch.”
Some reports suggest that the decision was mazdedue to the policy of restoring the natural fire frequency and chaparral habitats.
According to the Topanga State Park, any fire should be left to burn within reasonable public safety limits and outside of fire exclusion zones. Pollak revealed the authorities knew about the fire but put people at risk, doing more harm than good to the environment.
The Palisades fire was reported to have started on January 7 without considering that it might have been fueled due to the park fire.
Pollak revealed that the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later deduced that even though the park fire was contained on the surface, it continued to burn within the root structure of plants “approximately 20 feet south” of the original fire.
When the seasonal Santa Ana wind hit the region on January 7, the fire rekindled and spread to homes in the locality. Hundreds people lost their lives, and thousands lost their homes in the fires.
Federal court filings and public records also showed that maps designated certain parts of state parkland as “avoidance areas” to protect sensitive natural and cultural resources.
Firefighting tactics such as the deployment of heavy equipment, vehicles, or retardant without additional oversight or consultation with a resource advisor were allegedly restricted in those areas.
This was to protect the rare plants in the area, along with the cultural resources.
New reporting suggests the Pacific Palisades wildfire may have been a rekindling of an earlier arson fire.
Investigators say the original blaze showed signs of lingering heat, yet thermal imaging may not have been used before crews left the site. If true, this raises serious… pic.twitter.com/TGZmgAKQYu
— Independent Institute (@IndependentInst) January 7, 2026
A private lawsuit also revealed that the authorities failed to protect the people and their homes from the fire. The smoke from the Lachman Fire (as seen in drone footage) should have been enough for the authorities to act on it, but they allegedly let it burn.
Investigations revealed that for the fire department to act on a park fire, they would have needed an archaeologist to explain where they could put out the fire and which areas needed to be avoided.
Since the fire was not put out, the state was allegedly aware it could reignite and spread to other areas.
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Palisades Fire.
My @CityJournal investigation explores what went wrong, and how secretive California state parks policies turned a tiny, containable brush fire into L.A.’s worst urban wildfire catastrophe. pic.twitter.com/81VG73VZEQ
— Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) January 5, 2026
The California Wildfires were finally contained on January 31, 2025. Gavin Newsom confirmed that not putting out the fire was a local decision, and the state of California wasn’t responsible for it.
He also vowed to find the reason behind fire hydrants being empty and major reservoirs being dry for a year in the Pacific Palisades. There were also major cuts in the budget for the Los Angeles fire department, affecting the department’s operations.
A year after the fires, the housing construction in the area is facing delays, with only a few thousand approvals so far. Newsom has claimed that Trump’s tariffs and immigration crackdown have impacted the construction.
