Malibu sues LA over Palisades fire: ‘a hollowed out community’

The city of Malibu slapped Los Angeles and the state of California with a lawsuit over the devastating Palisades fire — saying officials didn’t do enough to stop the deadly blaze that “hollowed out” the oceanside community.

Malibusaid the city’s “entire character changed” when the wildfire swept through and that it is “still reeling from the destruction it left in its wake,” according to the suit.

The 66-page complaint seeks to “recover significant financial losses” resulting from the devastating fire.

“This decision was not made lightly,” Malibu Mayor Bruce Silverstein said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “The City has an obligation to act in the best interests of our residents and taxpayers. The lawsuit seeks accountability for the extraordinary losses suffered by our community while recognizing that Malibu must continue to work collaboratively with our regional partners going forward.”

The complaint cites devastation in the Carbon Beach area of Malibu, burn scars near the Pacific Coast Highway and burned-down businesses in the area. It notes that the fire “destroyed over 700 homes and dozens of businesses” in the city.

The suit claims the fire was not merely an act of God, but a result of the “unlawful conduct” of the defendants.

The complaint added that LA and the state prioritized “rare plants over human lives in failing to inspect and address the dangerous burn scar from the Lachman Fire that ignited just days before on its own land – its smoldering embers remaining clearly visible to anyone who cared to look.”

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The suit claims that state employees hindered firefighters’ efforts to cut dry vegetation around the Lachman fire by arguing that the plants needed to be protected.

Malibu also “experienced damage to roads, stormwater systems, public buildings, and open-space lands, as well as significant disruption to tourism, employment, and local revenue,” the city said in its statement.

Specifically, the lawsuit aims to recover “costs associated with emergency response, infrastructure repair, environmental restoration, and lost revenues.”