Home » Heidi, Spencer Pratt sue L.A. after Palisades fire burns home – Jobsmaa.com

Heidi, Spencer Pratt sue L.A. after Palisades fire burns home – Jobsmaa.com

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Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, along with several other Pacific Palisades property owners, sued the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for damage to their property during the Palisades Fire. got up Disaster.

“Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” reality stars, who They lost their house in a fireThey filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking inverse condemnation — a legal concept that compensates property owners for damage caused by public use.

In the lawsuit, the reality TV celebrity, more than 20 other property owners, tenants and individuals affected as a result of the Palisades fire allege that the city and the operations of its water supply and related infrastructure caused them damages. Properties.

The complaint has been made citing reports about Santa Ynez Reservoir — a reservoir built to serve Pacific Palisades — was offline and empty before the Jan. 7 fire. The 117 million gallon reservoir, the Los Angeles Times reports It was offline for repair From the beginning of 2024. The reservoir remains empty and the DWP's head of water operations told The Times “Soon” repairs requested January 2024 will not be done until April or May 2025.

The reservoir has sparked outrage against the situation The DWP and its leadershipGov. Gavin Newsom's stimulus An inquiry should be ordered Reasons behind loss of water pressure to fire hydrants hampered firefighting efforts in the city. At least two lawsuits have been filed.

Former and current DWP officials said that if there had been water in the Santa Ynez Reservoir, there would have been high water pressure in the higher reaches of the Palisades, though it's unclear for how long. It's also unclear whether the reservoir would have made a meaningful difference in firefighters' ability to battle the blaze, which has burned 23,400 acres. More than two weeks after the fire started, 72% of the fire was contained as of Thursday.

The Palisades Fire, fueled by extremely dry weather and vegetation, was compounded by hurricane-force winds and led to 11 deaths, destroyed 6,662 structures, and damaged 890. Water system experts said it was immediately blocked by strong Santa Ana winds. The Palisades fire was initially unable to be contained due to the use of airplanes and helicopters. Municipal water systems are not equipped for such flames, they said.

But Pratts and the plaintiffs accused the DWP of “a conscious decision to operate the water supply system as a 'cost-saving' measure that drained the reservoir and made it unusable,” restricting water to the area's firefighting and tankers. They also alleged that the defendants had designed the water system for public use “in such a way that there was insufficient water pressure to fight urban fires.”

The complaint, obtained Thursday by The Times, alleges that the facilities, reservoir, water supply system, hydrants, infrastructure and other public improvement measures taken by the city and utility “present an inherent hazard and fire hazard to private property.” They accused the city and the utility of taking a “known, calculated risk” that private property would be damaged and destroyed by fire.

“Based on information and belief, the Palisades fire was an unavoidable and unavoidable consequence of the service of the water supply system in and around Pacific Palisades as planned and constructed,” the complaint states. “The system necessarily failed, and this failure was a substantial factor in plaintiffs suffering the losses alleged in this complaint.”

The damage was “proximately and substantially caused by Defendants' actions… and each of them… caused Plaintiffs' damages,” the complaint says.

The defendants, who are seeking damages to be determined at trial, said they did not receive adequate compensation for damaged or destroyed property, the complaint said, adding that “defendants take or damage plaintiffs' property. Each of them, without just compensation.

They also want to recover the costs of repairing or replacing lost or destroyed property, lost wages or business profits, and living expenses and legal expenses caused by loss of use of their homes.

Representatives of City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto's office and the DWP did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Times on Thursday.

Pratts spoke volumes on social media and inside News interviews About what They were lost in the fire Their efforts to raise money behind it. Earlier this month, Spencer Pratt publicly pleaded with fans to buy it Stream his wife's 2010 album “Surface”. sending it to number 1 on the iTunes charts. He also said “Life-changing” money earned on TikTok From the people who help his family recover. A spokesman for the couple did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Meanwhile, at least 20 Lawsuits Filed Against Southern California Edison Associated with the Eaton Fire, it destroyed large areas of Altadena, while it burned with the Palisades Fire. Plaintiffs allege that the evidence suggests that the Eaton fire was started by SCE's electrical equipment.

Times staff writers Matt Hamilton and David Janiser contributed to this report.


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