"I didn't even want to use my gloved hand because it was hot, so I just kicked it with my boot to kind of expose it. There was like red hot like coals that was still smoldering, and I even heard crackling."
"That's how I approached him, is like, 'Hey, Cap ... We have hot spots in general. We have some ash pits.' That's an alert to double check the whole area and maybe we need to switch our tactics."
"It kind of sits heavy with me that nobody listened to me."
Firefighter Scott Pike testified in a lawsuit that he identified multiple smoking areas with red-hot coals still smoldering on the Lachman fire and alerted the captain to the inadequate mop-up. Despite Pike's warnings about hot spots and ash pits, the captain ordered crews to pack up their hoses and leave. Pike expressed regret that nobody listened to his concerns. City attorneys initially blocked release of Pike's testimony and depositions from eleven other firefighters. LAFD commanders claimed flames were completely extinguished and barely mentioned the earlier fire in their after-action report. Pike was never interviewed for that report.
#palisades-fire #fire-suppression-failure #firefighter-testimony #inadequate-mop-up #liability-lawsuit
Read at Los Angeles Times
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