KCAL News investigation uncovers brush issues in wake of Palisades Fire
Sam Rubin watched on January 7 when the Palisades Fire began to rapidly approach his home.
"It was just all so surreal," he said, recalling the moments he saw the first embers and smoke begin to swirl in the midst of the intense windstorm.
"We saw the sky, it was if you saw a tornado and you were right in the path," Rubin said.
The fire's path did head directly at him, first jumping to his backyard before engulfing his home in flames.
'It's like a battlefield without the bodies," he said. "And it's sad."
Now, more than 100 days removed from the day the fire erupted to quickly burn thousands of buildings, Rubin is one of many across Los Angeles still questioning what more could have been done.
"it's very upsetting, because one large parcel of land could be a huge contributor, could've avoided the scale of damage,' he said.
Just yards beyond what remains of his property, and many other burned homes, sits a large ravine. LA County calls it's Parcel Number 4419-015-026.
In 2024, fire inspectors cited property the owner for failing to clear brush from near homes bordering the ravine, which was documented on May 5, including the lot in question.
Three months later, on July 27, firefighters again raised concerns over the fire danger in the area, posting public notice of violation as the brush continued to grow higher.
KCAL News has obtained documents that show the area has been a risk for far longer. Over the last five years, it has garnered $31,430 in fines from the city. It's the most cited parcel of land in the Palisades.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has further confirmed that the owner inaction stretches back to 2005. The property, they say, had presented brush danger growing unabated, often for months at a time. The department was repeatedly tasked with hiring contractors to cut down the overgrown vegetation, including in August 2024, just four months before the Palisades Fire sparked.
"It was clearly fuel, and the fire, and the winds, which was a whole different game changer," he said. "But, it's like, they can have this piece of land that looks beautiful, but yet they may not be doing the required upkeep and maintenance. Then it comes at a huge price that we're possibly the victims of."
Further data obtained by KCAL News Investigations found 49 other properties in the Palisades that have been cited and cleared by LAFD-hired contractors in the last five years. More than one-third of those had to be cited and cleared more than once.
Some of the parcels of land are completely empty, while some have unoccupied homes. Most of them still have thousands of dollars worth of fines and many now sit next to burned out homes.
LAFD Captain Chris Thyfault leads the department's Brush Inspection Team, which checks on properties across the city to ensure they meet the fire-hardening recommendations.
He says that while brush clearance alone would not have stopped the powerful blaze, it still presents a critical factor that provides more dangerous fuel to every fire that breaks out.
"When we're dealing with the Palisades Fire, all bets are off," he said.
The Pacific Palisades is far from the only area where there are issues, according to data obtained by KCAL News Investigative Reporter Ross Palombo.
Last year, there were 10,827 fire inspection citations and 1,465 second citations. Firefighters say those numbers are down, but they also noted that the amount of properties that they ultimately had to clear had risen by 20% to 566.
One of those properties sits near Eric Landmark's home in Tujunga.
It has been repeatedly cited and cleared by city contractors, something that Landmark says is a constant issue and concern.
"It's like perfect fuel and it just stays like that for months," he said.
LAFD inspector Brent Kneisler could leads a team of just 12 inspectors who are tasked with diagnosing problems across 155,000 properties before they become critical and threaten lives.
That task became even more substantial when Cal Fire released their newly re-classified Fire Hazard Severity Zones map, adding 16,000 more acres to the massive swath of land Kneisler and his team oversee.
"It is a huge increase," Kneisler said, "roughly 20-to-30% more inspections."
All of this comes amid allegations of budget cuts that may have exacerbated the Palisades Fire. This year, Captain Thyfault said that he had to cut two support staff members, and that the department will be losing one more in coming weeks.
Mayor Karen Bass last month revealed a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the city's budget during her State of the City Address.
Palombo asked Bass if LAFD could receive additional funding to help prevent some of those layoffs, saying they need more help.
"I know they do, but many other departments do too," she said.
Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva, who took over after Kristin Crowley's dismissal, says people need to focus on helping the system, not hurting it.
"By the inaction, you're causing a reaction from us and that's not a good thing for public safety," he said.
Rubin similarly hopes that more people will be cognizant of the potential impact of the brush clearing on their land.
"I don't think the fire was avoidable, but the destruction and the magnitude of destruction was uncalled for," Rubin said. "It's sad. A lot of people just wanted to live their lives and enjoy the slice of heaven we say is home. It's a whole new landscape now."
KCAL News tried to locate the owners of the Palisades property, but has had no success. It's owned by an LLC. LA County says hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes are also owed on that property.
The person who owns the Tujunga property also never responded to request for comment.
Since KCAL's initial interview with Mayor Bass, she has proposed hiring an additional 227 fire personnel. That proposal has not yet been approved by the LA City Council. The captain over LAFD's brush inspection unit, though, says he hasn't heard anything about his department getting more resources.
