L.A. firefighter says Lachman fire still smoldering when crews left
A Los Angeles firefighter testified that he observed hot spots and smoldering ground at the Lachman fire on Jan. 2 and says his warnings were ignored as crews left, just days before embers rekindled into the Palisades fire that killed 12. The sworn account supports earlier reporting that a battalion chief ordered leaving despite signs the fire wasn’t fully extinguished, a narrative at odds with LAFD’s after-action claims and the statements of other firefighters whose depositions described the fire as out.