LA firefighter says Lachman Fire was still smoldering when crews were ordered to leave

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES () — A Los Angeles firefighter says the Lachman Fire was still smoldering when crews were ordered to leave, days before embers reignited into the deadly Palisades Fire, according to newly released deposition testimony.

Scott Pike, a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, testified last month as part of a lawsuit filed by 3,000 Palisades Fire victims against the city and the state.

Pike said he saw at least five areas that were still smoking and extremely hot.

“I saw light smoke on the ground,” he said. “I saw branches that were smoking still. I could smell smoke, and there were … for what I would say … I would say several smokers.”

Pike said some of the hot spots were intense enough that he hesitated to touch them, even with gloves.

“I could feel the heat coming off of it, and I didn’t even want to use my gloved hand because it was hot,” he said. “So I just kicked it with my boot to kind of expose it and there was like red hot, like, coals, what I believe to be the base of a bush or branches that was still smoldering, and I even heard crackling.”

Pike testified that he reported what he found to other firefighters and a captain but felt his concerns were dismissed.

He also said he was never interviewed for the city’s after-action report on the Palisades Fire.

Los Angeles Fire Department leadership has maintained that flames were out at the site of the Lachman Fire.

Pike said the devastation that followed weighs heavily on him.

“I saw something, I said something and to my best ability, I felt like we could have done more,” he said.

Mayor Karen Bass’ office released a statement Thursday, saying the mayor has been “extremely public” about demanding transparency.

“As Mayor Bass said months ago when this first came to light, these revelations are ‘tremendously alarming,'” read the statement. “That’s why she immediately ordered a full investigation of the Lachman Fire. For more than a year, Mayor Bass has been extremely public about her demand for transparency and accountability to inform ongoing Fire Department reforms, and because those affected deserve nothing less.”