The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Politics => Topic started by: SVPete on February 27, 2026, 12:41:27 PM
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The Video Depositions of Whistleblowing LA Firefighters Will Have You Seething
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/02/27/the-video-depositions-of-whistleblowing-la-firefighters-will-have-you-crying-and-seething-n3812350 (https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/02/27/the-video-depositions-of-whistleblowing-la-firefighters-will-have-you-crying-and-seething-n3812350)
Every last word these men speak should hang another shred of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass's political careers out to dry like so much toxic dust in the wind.
Last December, the plaintiffs' attorney (for some 3,000 fire victims) in the Palisades Fire obtained a court order allowing them to depose the dozen Los Angeles firefighters who went to the site of the Lachman Fire on the morning after it broke out and then supposedly extinguished on New Year's Day, 2024.
If you'll remember, the rekindling of the Lachman fire, which is believed to have been started by an arsonist a week before the Pacific Palisades fire that consumed a staggering 23,000+ acres, over 7,000 structures, and resulted in twelve deaths, has been determined to have caused that later devastating conflagration.
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Leaked whistleblower testimony and LA officials' own emails have dropped several bombshells regarding culpability for that site's abandonment, which is critical to assessing responsibility and damages. The state is also invested in saying they bear no responsibility for the catastrophe.
Understandably, people want blood.
Text messages between the fire crews on scene that day backed up their statements that they did not want to leave, as they didn't believe the fire was extinguished. But they were forcefully ordered to do so.
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Except, as we now find out, the extraordinary firefighters who were at the Lachman scene the day after, through their own now declassified words.
These clips paint so ghastly a tale of incompetence and malfeasance, and maliciousness in the cover-up, it about makes you ill.
First and foremost, LA firefighter Scott Pike, a 23-year veteran, knew what needed to be done when he got to the site of the Lachman blaze. He describes what he found and how he fruitlessly fought to mop up what he knew had the potential to rekindle, and yet was denied.
The firefighters were told that state park employees would be patrolling the burn scar for signs of rekindling, since the fire had ignited on state park land.
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Pike said he saw at least five areas that were still smoking and extremely hot.
"I saw light smoke on the ground," he said. "I saw branches that were smoking still. I could smell smoke, and there were ... for what I would say ... I would say several smokers."
Pike said some of the hot spots were intense enough that he hesitated to touch them, even with gloves.
"I could feel the heat coming off of it, and I didn't even want to use my gloved hand because it was hot," he said. "So I just kicked it with my boot to kind of expose it and there was like red hot, like, coals, what I believe to be the base of a bush or branches that was still smoldering, and I even heard crackling."
Pike testified that he reported what he found to other firefighters and a captain but felt his concerns were dismissed.
...This firefighter now fears retaliation from the LAFD for telling the truth. We were prevented from disclosing this shocking testimony before now, because the City's attorneys imposed a "confidential" designation over 100% of the firefighters' deposition testimony effectively embargoing it for the past 30 days pursuant to the Protective Order in the case. We are just now legally able to share this testimony with our clients and the public. The LAFD and likely the Mayor's Office have known about this information since last year, but have tried to cover it up to avoid "reputational harm". This testimony also corroborates our claim that CA State Parks allowed a dangerous condition – the smoldering embers – to remain on its land for days despite the extreme fire weather forecast, which rekindled into the Palisades Fire that destroyed 7,000 homes and killed 12 innocent civilians. The firefighters also testified that CA State Parks told them that Park employees would patrol the burn scar for several days after the firefighters left. ...
What the firefighters initially thought was a park ranger, but turned out to be only a parks official named John Ota, was the person who told them to leave. State park personnel would be patrolling the area, they were assured.
An ignoramus state bureaucrat ... I wonder how many higher ups he fellated and @$$-kissed to get his position. As for the moronic fire captain, whose orders was he following and how much fellating and @$$-kissing got him captain rank?