Lawyers claim photos show how state officials hampered efforts to put out Lachman Fire

Lawyers representing Palisades Fire victims released new photos and evidence, which they claim show California State Parks officials hampering efforts to put out the Lachman Fire.

The attorneys released the photos after completing depositions on Friday, during which state park representatives said they believed hikers would confuse Lachman Fire containment lines with trails. The newly released pictures show firefighters filling the fire breaks to avoid confusion after State Parks officials did not close the park, according to the attorneys.

"The claim was we didn't want members of the public ... that this hand line that was cut by the firefighters was somehow a trail they should go down," Roger Behle, an attorney for the Palisades Fire victims. "Basically, returning the fuel to the area they just removed it from, and that came as a shock to us today."

California State Parks spokesman Marty Greenstein claimed the attorneys were "making misleading comments to the press" with the photos.

"State Parks will continue to litigate this case in court, and we would encourage Plaintiffs' attorneys to do the same rather than making misleading comments to the press," Greenstein wrote. 

The U.S. Department of Justice said the Palisades Fire started after Santa Ana winds possibly rekindled embers from the Lachman Fire.

Last month, attorneys claimed a photo shows a state parks employee telling firefighters where they could not go and instructing them that they could not use chainsaws to carve out containment lines because it would endanger protected plant species. In addition to the photos, victims' attorneys also released an image of a map depicting the locations of the protected vegetation.

In response, Greenstein referred CBS LA to the statement State Parks released during a U.S. Senate investigation into the fire. 

"State Parks does not 'favor plants over people' or have authority to overrule firefighting decisions," officials wrote.

Victims' attorneys also claimed that a park representative stated during the deposition that they had spotted smoldering but did not report it until officials believed the Lachman Fire was extinguished.