Thousands of Pacific Palisades residents got together on the anniversary of the inferno to stand shoulder to shoulder in the heart of the burned-out town, united by one hard truth: their community was permanently changed, and the government failed them when it mattered most.
“City firefighters left us to die,” organizer Jeremy Padawer shouted to a crowd of more than 2,000. Was that an exaggeration?
“No!” the crowd roared back. “People did die!” “Did they not?”
Several events marked the one-year anniversary of the Pacific Palisades Fire, but one cut through the noise. Its name said it all — They Let Us Burn — and once the crowd filled in, the tone was unmistakable. This wasn’t a ceremony. It was a reckoning.
Padawer pointed toward the memorial that had just ended nearby. This wasn’t rhetoric, he said — it was names, faces, families.
He described the night of the fire. Neighbors fleeing down Sunset Boulevard in broad daylight with no direction, no warnings, no emergency alerts. Then came the question that silenced the crowd:
“What would have happened at 3 a.m.,” he asked, pointing to the chaos residents fled, a burning city with no evacuation plan, no alerts, and not a single firefighter or emergency responder in sight — “how many more would have died?”
Boos erupted as he turned toward City Hall and Sacramento, leaders that residents say spent the past year deflecting instead of fixing what broke.
“For 365 days, they’ve blamed everything but themselves,” Padawer said. “They blame climate change, vegetation and building materials while residents watched failures cascade in real time: water access problems, reservoir issues, prevention gaps and decisions that compounded into catastrophe.”
“The days of gaslighting are over,” he said. The crowd erupted.
“I’m here to speak loudly and let them know: our government is not going to save you,” said Palisades fire survivor Jamie Geller. “This isn’t right or left — it’s a failure of government.”
Standing with protesters was councilwoman Traci Park, who joined residents demanding transparency, accountability and real reform, not more reports and promises.
Park told The Post the slow drip of information surrounding the Jan. 7 fire only deepened suspicion and anger.
“The lingering unanswered questions about the events of January 7 and the lead-up to the fire continue to compound the frustration,” Park said. Instead of clear explanations, she criticized what she called a piecemeal, “headline by headline” release of information rather than direct accountability from agencies. “That has been a real miss.”
From the outset, she added, she opposed departments policing their own failures. “I was very clear from the beginning that the department should not be investigating itself.”
Two figures, however, were conspicuously absent.
Karen Bass did not attend. Gavin Newsom did not attend.
Their absence became its own statement.
The rally surged when Spencer Pratt, a self-described reality TV villain who lost his home in the fires, took the stage and announced he is running for mayor of Los Angeles.
“The system in Los Angeles isn’t struggling — it’s fundamentally broken,” Pratt said. “It protects the people at the top while the rest of us drown in smoke and ash.”
His wife, Heidi Montag, an American singer and also a reality TV star, followed with a raw account of what the fire took from her family — not just a house, but a sense of safety.
“One year ago, we lost our peace,” she said through tears. “This wasn’t unavoidable. Leadership failed us.”
Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva echoed the anger, apologizing to families and saying those responsible for the response were nowhere to be found.
“Every single one of them could have been prevented,” he said.
As the rally wound down, the volume dropped — and the day came full circle.
Earlier, more than 100 residents gathered quietly for a memorial honoring the 12 lives lost. Families received folded American flags flown during the fires. Tears fell freely. Hugs lingered.
Standing with the families was councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, a Los Angeles City Council member who represents District 7, which includes large parts of the San Fernando Valley. She said showing up mattered — that being physically present was a signal to residents that their loss, their anger and their recovery were not being ignored.
“As a city leader, it’s important to be here in support of residents who have endured such trauma — to show they have support at City Hall as they recover and build back stronger,” she said. “I have watched our city recover from incredible odds. As someone who represents an area that has been destroyed by wildfire in the past, I know that we will help recover the Palisades.”
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