Two federal judges who lost their houses of Pacific Palisades in the January fire storm have joined the sinks of their neighbors to sue the Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles, claiming that the utility could not appropriate Ly Pretare for the forest fire and responded when it broke.
The American District Judge Dean Pregerson, who is currently in the Central District of the Court of California, and Vijay “Jay” Gandhi, who served as magistrate judge in the same court, filed the lawsuit last week along with their families.
The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles, alleges that the conflagration of Palisades “was caused by the Water and Energy Assets of LADWP, specifically empty deposits and energy lines.”
The demand cites reports of the times found by the Santa Ynez de Ladwp reservoir, located in Las Palisades, sat with empty duration of the shooting, since it closed months before repairs.
“Despite the terrible warnings of the National Meteorological Service of a” Red Flag Warning of particularly dangerous condition “or” Critical Fire Climate “that had the potential for rapid fire extension and extreme fire behavior, the LADWP was not prepared for the fire of Palisades”, “”, “”
LADWP hired a request for comments from the law firm based in Los Angeles, Tolles & Olson, who was hired by LADWP to handle the palisades fire litigation. The most recent statement of LADWP about the pending litigation said that the plaintiffs hope to continue joining such rams, but dismissed the statements that the public service provider was not prepared and could be considered responsible for the fire.
“While our crews and the system were prepared for situations that could tighten the system, no urban water system is designed to combat a massive forest fire and based on the wind of the speed and the scale presented by the historical fire of destructive palisades,” said the statement, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said.
The public services company also said that “the Law on the Prevention of the Law and prevention prevention services, and its tariff payers, of being responsible for forest fire losses.”
The current and previous federal judges who filed the lawsuit as residents, not in any official capacity, do not agree with that defense line. One of the judges worked as a mediator in previous fire settlements between Pacific Gas & Electric and residents.
“The city must stand up and demand responsibility and do the right thing for the residents of the Palisades. And that is why I joined this battle,” said Gandhi, who worked as a mediator, in an interview with Los Angeles Daily News. He called the fire of Palisades a “manifestation of risks that were widely known but ignored. And the city must recognize that, because it cannot happen again.”
The demand for the judges was recently consolidated with more than 10 similar cases against LADWP, presented by more than 750 residents, according to one of the lawyers who work in cases, Alexander Robertson. The long list of cases against utility continues to accumulate as the owners seek compensation for damage, believing that it was caused by the poor management of water resources of utility or its electric lines.
An image of a civil lawsuit filed against the DWP shows a view of the crossed arms, insulators and broken electric lines.
(Superior Court of California)
The demand also alleges that most of the electric lines ofwp remained in energy in the energy of the fire, causing “additional ignitions and fires at the door of Pacific Palisades, a predicted wind event of Santa Ana, … [which] He accelerated the rapid propagation of Palisades fire, “says the complaint.
LADWP “knew about the forest fires of significant risk raised in case of ineffective infrastructure management, delayed repairs, insecure equipment and/or aging infrastructure decades before the shot of palisades,” said the complaint. He called public deposits and electricity lines public needs, saying that “the failure of a critical infrastructure can have a domino effect.”
