Palisades Village

Rick Caruso Allegedly Hired Private Firefighters to Protect Restaurants Inside Pacific Palisades Development | Eater LA

"A retail-and-restaurant complex where, as firefighters battled the rapidly expanding Palisades fire on January 7, 2025, a billionaire real estate developer and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate dispatched a team of private firefighters from Arizona to protect the development; that team allegedly protected most of the development from fire damage that first wildfire night. The developer also brought in a fleet of private water trucks after local fire hydrants ran out of water or lost pressure the following morning. His actions sparked a heated debate on whether wealthy residents should be able to buy private rescue services during a natural disaster and illustrated the widening gap between Southern California’s working-class residents and its wealthiest. All of the development’s restaurants and retail shops were reported to be still standing but sustained some damage, while neighboring homes were not, though the developer alleged in the New York Times that his firefighters tried to save them. For context, Cal Fire reported as of January 16, 2025 that the Palisades Fire had burned 23,713 acres and was 22 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire had spread across 14,117 acres and was 55 percent contained; both fires destroyed thousands of buildings and resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people." - Mona Holmes