Pacific Palisades residents sue Los Angeles department of water and power

(LOS ANGELES) — A group of Pacific Palisades residents and businesses impacted by the Palisades Fire filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the city’s Department of Water and Power, alleging that the city and the agency were unprepared for the Palisades Fire.

The suit was filed in the California Superior Court on Monday and seeks damages for the costs, repair and replacement of damaged or destroyed property; cost for alternative living expenses; loss of wages, earning capacity or profits and any other relief a court deems appropriate.

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe that the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades on the date of the Palisades Fire failed, and that this failure was a substantial factor in causing plaintiffs to suffer the losses alleged,” the lawsuit said.

“Among other failures, the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, was empty, leaving fire crews little to no water to fight the Palisades Fire,” the complaint said.

“Further, despite dire warnings by the National Weather Service of a ‘Particularly Dangerous Condition — Red Flag Warning’ of ‘critical fire weather’ which had the potential for rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior, the LADWP was unprepared for the Palisades Fire,” the suit added.

The group of plaintiffs includes several families, individuals and businesses, according to the complaint.

In a statement issued before the lawsuit was filed, LADWP said it “was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations. To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter’s competitive bidding process which requires time.”

“The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing,” the statement said. “LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community’s typical needs.”

ABC News reached out to the LADWP for comment and is awaiting a response.

The extent of the economic damage wrought by the unprecedented fires is not yet clear. They will cost insurers as much as $30 billion, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs estimated in a report released this week. After accounting for non-insured damages, the total costs will balloon to $40 billion, the report said.

The investigation into the cause and spread of the Palisades Fire is ongoing, even as firefighters continue their effort to contain that and other wildfires blazing around the Los Angeles area.

The Palisades Fire began in the Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7 and has since destroyed about 5,000 structures, according to state officials. The fire has covered more than 23,000 acres and is 18% containment, per Cal Fire’s latest updates.

Eight of the 25 deaths so far confirmed from the Southern California wildfires are linked to the Palisades Fire, the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office said on Tuesday.

No cause has been determined for the wildfires.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.