Circling the News has run numerous stories about park grills, towering eucalyptus trees and fireworks shot off in Pacific Palisades. The entire town is in the Very High Fire Severity Zone, which is an area most likely to experience wildfires because it is located adjacent to vast amounts of state, county, MRCA (Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority) and City parkland.
Although residents are required to do brush clearance around their properties, governmental agencies are not.
Fireworks have been a problem that has largely been ignored by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Rec and Parks.
On December 20, 2024, (eleven days before fireworks were set off in the Highlands) a reader, who had a camera facing the park wrote wrote in an email to this editor “The explosions occurred last night for five minutes, beginning at 1:41 a.m. This was just one of the booms. Check out the large plume of smoke.
“It was a group of teens who drove into the park, lit multiple explosives, then left. We are trying to use chat gpt to decipher their conversation,” the reader said. “The park (and LAPD) continue to sit on their hands. Imagine if one of these explosions sparked a fire? None of us who surround the park would have time to get out of our homes.” A forewarning? Or just a lack of enforcement.
CTN has run numerous stories about the fireworks (many commercial grade) set off at the Rec Center and other areas around town.
Fireworks explosions are a frequent occurrence at the Palisades Rec Center.
The first fireworks story ran June 9, 2020, “Castellammare Residents Fear that Illegal Fireworks Could Start a Brush Fire,” and on March 11, 2021 “Residents Ask Park Advisory Board for Help in Stopping Weekend Parties.”
CTN received a copy of July 5, 2022, email which had been sent to LAPD and Rec and Parks, “There are dozens of teenagers; multi-rocket fireworks have been exploding for the last two hours and the entire town smells like smoke. Is there no one on patrol here tonight of all nights? We have been on hold with the police department for 45 minutes.”
CTN ran an April 2023 story “Loud Explosion on Friday Caused by Teens/Young Adults.”
June 18, 2023, the story was “Fireworks, Drag Racing at the Recreation Center.” And on June 2023, it was “Viewpoint Explosion and Burn was Preventable.”
The stories and warnings continued: August 2023 “Lahaina Had Brush Fire Warnings: So Has Pacific Palisades.” October 8, 2023 “Illegal Fireworks Set off on Radcliffe Avenue,” January 15, 2024 “Stopping Fireworks Will Take More than Enforcement,” and October 22, 2024 “Letter: Activist and LAPD Commander Discuss Fireworks and 911 Calls.”
Reports of fireworks were also reported on the Nextdoor social app “What was going on at the Palisades Park on Alma Rea in the Huntington at 1 a.m. last night? So much screaming, honking and fireworks not only is it waking the neighbors up, it’s a hazard in our neighborhood.”
Kids scramble to avoid being hit by embers set off by fireworks.
On October 31, 2023, a fireworks ember lit the hill on Temescal Canyon Road, and firefighters were able to put it out before it destroyed Tahitian Terrace. Firetrucks monitored the area for days, to ensure there wasn’t a flare up.
A Tahitian Terrace resident sought to find a solution and wrote in October 2024:
“Any chance PaliPatrol (private security company) keeps a record of calls about fire and fireworks spanning 2024 or 2023? I imagine you are always called as often as LAPD is called.
“I really think we need a PP based dispatch and arrest team. One or two high profile and well publicized sting group arrests and this problem is solved. With any luck we get a new DA in November, and we get tougher on crime prosecution and throw the book at these firebugs.
“Maybe we can find some sort of public private partnership funding for a pilot project for a few months until our first arrests are made and fully publicized to the maximum media attention possible. This is going to be the LOUDEST public relations effort this town has ever seen so help me God.
“LAPD is well intentioned, but the City’s demands and lack of staffing will not solve our local problems.”
LAPD responded “Note: In 2024, 60% of 911 calls were answered within 15 seconds or less.
“Keep in mind the following: If a caller gives a location for where the fireworks are coming from, and advises the operator that the fireworks are in a Very Severe High Fire Hazard Zone, a “Code Two” call is generated which means that officers are to respond without delay unless they are assigned a “Code Three” call which would generally be for a violent crime in progress.
“If the caller does not indicate the fireworks are in a location designated as a Very Severe High Fire Hazard zone, a call will be generated, but it will be a “non-coded call” which means that the officer assigned the call should respond when available, but they can be re-assigned for higher priority calls (Code Two or Code Three). If no location is given for the fireworks, i.e.: someone calls and says they merely see fireworks, there is no call for service generated, and the operator will merely announce over the radio that fireworks were seen in the area of, for example: Pacific Coast Highway and Temescal Canyon.”
And then on January 7, the town burned. Someone forgot to put the fire out.
I will never understand why there is no LAPD station in the Palisades or Brentwood. WLA is too far away to be effective. Given the amount of money we contribute for city (and county) services via property taxes, it’s an outrage how we are forgotten and ignored.
Has there been any investigation done to identify the teens who set fireworks off in the Highlands in early January … fireworks which resulted in fires which were put out BUT obviously not 100% as embers existed which the January 6 winds kicked up.
Sue, I’ve been waiting for you to write this article. I am one of the parents/community who had been monitoring and complaining about the fireworks explosions over the past two years. I actually sent an email out to Traci Park’s office after I personally met with District 11 counsel director Juan Fregoso one year ago this month about the high potential for a fire due to the consistent and predictable fireworks in the Palisades. The letter I sent to Juan Fregoso, Michael Amster (both at Traci’s office) and cc’d sonya.young-jimenez@lacity.org, andrew.starrels@hklaw.com, 31356@lapd.online, 37430@lapd.online, president@pacpalicc.org, vp@pacpalicc.org, is below:
Email sent 3/8/24 after meeting in person with them at the Pali Rec Center in late Feb ‘24’’
“Dear Juan Fregoso and Michael Amster c/o Traci Park:
It was a pleasure meeting you both on Thursday February 29, 2024 at the Pacific Palisades Rec Center. I was one of the mom’s in attendance, particularly during the discussions around the much needed surveillance at the Rec Center.
My husband and I have two boys in the public school system here (13 and 16) and we are long-time residents of the Pacific Palisades. We love this community deeply. Over the past 1-2 years, we have seen an increase in highly unruly and unsafe activity, to the likes of which we have NEVER seen before. You cannot walk into a store in the Palisades (Caruso’s Village being the exception) without seeing first hand the havoc that is affecting our town. On a weekly basis, I witness multiple teens (many local) stealing items from CVS, Ralph’s and Gelsons or chastising and egging businesses like Chipotle. I have spoken to the store managers at ALL of them. They all give me the same response: they are sick and tired of it and their employees are scared because the teens are aggressive. There is either zero surveillance in certain areas -or- lack of consistent presence of authority in the Palisades and the teens have caught on. I know these are private businesses and they have to provide their own security but teens are getting used to the fact that the Pacific Palisades is an easy target for unaddressed reckless and dangerous behavior.
Then there are the fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights at the rec center, which at this point are almost predictable. Sometimes, along with the explosions, kids are lighting trash cans on fire. Much of this has been captured on videos and photos by residents, I believe some of which you have seen. The explosions from the fireworks have gone from one or two a night to multiple and large. Considering the amount of dry vegetation of brush and trees, it’s only a matter of time before there is a fire. My husband and I have seen teens driving in cars (one person is behind the wheel and the other runs out to explode the device) or more recently, teens who masked and drive electric bikes and ride in packs of 20-40.
Here is the point I am trying to make: WORD IS OUT THAT THE PACIFIC PALISADES, SPECIFICALLY THE REC CENTER, IS THE PERFECT STAGE FOR MAYHEM, TERROR AND FIRE
1) there is no surveillance
2) the police can only stay up until a certain hour which is when the teens arrive!
3) there is a quick way in and a quick way out
I have spent multiple nights driving around the village watching these teens. They work in a coordinated effort sometimes with a scout on a regular bike and bright spot light (so you can’t see their face) calling back to the group(s) letting them know when to come into the rec center. They DO NOT care if children and parents are present and clearly do not care if they start a massive fire. It is only a matter of time before these kids start a massive fire or someone gets seriously injured.
We are not asking for a multi million dollar state-of-the-art surveillance system, as I have read in a local publication recently. We need a few cameras and some persons of authority solely devoted to our town holding these kids accountable. Officer Espin and his team are amazing when they are around but they can’t always be here.
As a resident who loves this community, is alert and wants a safe place for my family and friends to live, I felt compelled to let you know there is momentum in this reckless activity and until the district steps in and helps us, things are going to continue to escalate as we are already seeing.
With deepest thanks and a hopeful heart.
Alisa Freeman, Alphabet Streets, 917-559-8723”
The only response I got which was dated 3/11/24 was from Michael Amster which read:
“Hello Alisa,
Thank you for following up with additional information.
The Councilwoman is aware and profoundly concerned with the rise of dangerous and reckless behavior in the Park. We are exploring all possibilities to deter such behavior and how additional surveillance can be implemented.
Sincerely,”
Do Not Sell, do not let them get away with this.
They ignored us, they abused us and then they burned us out from their own incompetence. If you have to put a trailer on your lot and go buy a pop-up pool from Costco and wait this out because the Palisades is coming back.
They’re not getting away with this landgrab.
Was there any follow up on the teens that set the fireworks on the wee hours of Jan 1 2025 that from the drone footage in one of your pieces shows pretty damning evidence that embers remained. The LAFD may have been unaware of remaining embers… perhaps they should have done more. What about the teens that started all of this that led to unimaginable destruction and heartache?
I look forward to the day that the teens who shot off fireworks on January 1st 2025 are named and charged with criminal negligence.