The last time we checked on the Pacific Palisades recovery from the devastating wildfire in January, only 68 building permits had been issued for the rebuilding of 6800 structures that were damaged or destroyed.
Now comes news that the final evacuation order for the Pacific Palisades was officially lifted nearly six months after the devastating fire, which burned over 23,000 acres in Southern California. The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) made the announcement over the weekend, marking the end of all remaining restrictions in the fire-affected zones.
A portion of the coastal Los Angeles neighborhood had remained under an evacuation order because of dangerous downed wires, potentially explosive lithium-ion batteries and toxic wildfire debris, said Lyndsey Lantz, a spokesperson for the Fire Department.The Army Corps of Engineers, the lead agency overseeing wildfire cleanup, has overseen federal contractors in clearing wreckage away from more than 3,200 properties, alleviating some of those worries.“Our concern has decreased since much of the debris has been removed,” Lantz said.Only residents and contractors had previously been able to return to the portion of Pacific Palisades that remained under the evacuation order. Authorities had established vehicle checkpoints, in part, to keep the public away from these lingering hazards.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall that because of the many regulatory and policy challenges in the state, insurance companies began cutting home and apartment policies last year. In part, it is because our “progressive” state regulators tend to view insurance companies as villains.
Well, the insurance firms now have even more incentive to flee the state, as California’s insurance regulator, the California Department of Insurance (CDI), is currently conducting a formal investigation (specifically a Market Conduct Examination) into State Farm’s handling of insurance claims related to the Palisades and Eaton wildfires and the company is being sued.
The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles on Monday, alleges that State Farm General — the California home insurer that is part of the larger State Farm Group based in Bloomington, Ill. — took advantage of homeowner’s lack of knowledge about rebuilding costs and set projected replacement costs far lower than the actual costs, leaving fire victims without enough money to replace or rebuild their homes.State Farm, California’s largest home insurer, has engaged in a “multi-faceted illegal scheme” that is designed to “reap enormous illicit profits by deceptively misleading over a million homeowners in California,” the complaint alleges.The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of contract and several other causes of action, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages and reform of State Farm’s policies.
Representatives for State Farm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Los Angeles Times…likely because they were too busy packing their offices.
There were many poor decisions that led to the conditions that allowed the wildfire to get out of control, destroying a large swath of one of America’s great cities. One of the most significant sources of failure is Mayor Karen Bass, who enacted budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department, reducing its funding by approximately $17.5 million.
These cuts came amid warnings about the city’s deteriorating finances and were implemented shortly after awarding city employees substantial pay raises and benefits. Critics argue that these cuts left the city vulnerable during the devastating wildfires, as resources were stretched thin and response times were impacted.
Her contributions to this disaster were such that Michel Valentine, former U.S. attorney, accused her of ‘criminal negligence“.
“In my opinion, as a former prosecutor, this verges on criminal negligence. I say it’s just wrong,” Valentine said in an interview Tuesday on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”“A lot of people are at fault,” he continued. “I think Mayor Bass bears the ultimate responsibility for this failure, and I think she should be held accountable. There’s no way that that I could trust her again as my mayor in light of this tragedy. There’s no way.”
Given her role in the wildfire disaster, and her ongoing attacks on President Donald Trump and his moves to deport illegal immigrants while protecting federal property, I find the Daily Caller’s recent article linking Bass to Chinese Intel…fascinating.
An official in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ administration is the son of a Chinatown powerbroker and Democratic donor who has praised the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and works with foreign intelligence agencies, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.Adam Ma has held multiple positions in Bass’ office, his LinkedIn profile states, and now serves as both the city’s liaison for Asian-Americans and director of commission appointments, according to the Los Angeles government website.His father, who raised tens of thousands of dollars for Bass’ mayoral campaign, previously lauded the Communist Party for creating a “strong China” and is listed as an official by multiple arms of a Chinese government influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD).
After all, if you were a foreign entity intent on destroying a major American city, would you do anything different than what Bass did?
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