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An ongoing federal investigation into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed twelve and devoured miles upon miles of the Pacific Palisades and Malibu has led Mayor Karen Bass to pause the release of an after-action report examining the city’s response.
Per state regulation, the city is required to answer questions about what went wrong – like fire hydrants being tapped dry and why fire apparatus couldn’t access the fast-moving, wind-fueled inferno – as a way to address problems that could be prevented at future fires. But Bass said in a late afternoon press statement that federal prosecutors asked the city “late last week” to hold off on the release of the report.
It’s unclear why Bass released the information, and a request for clarification on her announcement was not immediately answered by her media representatives. Her statement indicated that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California wants to “avoid interference with the ongoing federal investigation.”
Once that report is complete, Bass said, “the after-action report will be released in coordination with the United States Department of Justice.”
The cause of the destructive blaze remains undetermined more than seven months after an arson investigative task force for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms began to pore through the rubble searching for clues. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office had no comment Tuesday night. A spokesperson for the ATF’s field office in Los Angeles has not returned several requests for comment.
There were a slew of arrests made in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, among them arsonists and criminals who impersonated firefighters. In late January, Los Angeles reported the arrests of an Oregon couple who were arrested after they drove a fake firetruck emblazoned with the name of a nonexistent fire company into the Palisades.
The driver, Dustin Nehl, is a convicted arsonist. His wife, Jenni Nehl, is a wind and fire expert who volunteered for a program run by the National Weather Service. The couple is expected in a Van Nuys courtroom for a pretrial hearing in early October, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.
Courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
A day after the Nehl’s arrest, the FBI renewed its hunt for a fugitive ecoterrorist, also from Oregon, named Josephine Sunshine Overaker, who was part of a domestic terrorist outfit known as “the Family.” The terrorists were responsible for a slew of arson attacks, including the burning of a ski resort in Vail, Colorado.
FBI
There is a $50,000 reward being offered for information about Overraker. Dustin Nehl told Los Angeles in a phone interview that he did not know anyone in the Family. Nehl also described himself as a “Trump supporter” before asking, “do you know any conservative ecoterrorists?”
FBI
In late April, the ATF conducted a controlled burn along the Temescal Ridge Trail between Skull Rock and Green Peak starting Tuesday, which had been the site of a fire days before the historic winds pushed the Palisades Fire all the way to coastal Malibu. That fire near a hiking trail was ignited on New Year’s Day, sparked by fireworks that may still have been smoldering, officials believe.
The post LA Mayor Says ‘Ongoing Federal Investigation’ Into Deadly Palisades Fire Pauses City Report appeared first on LAmag.
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Michele McPhee
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