Free Republic

Hunter Biden is trying to dodge a deposition in a lawsuit involving his infamous laptop because he wants to decamp to South Africa for three months — and he’s using the LA wildfire as “an excuse,” new court papers allege. Former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler — whom Hunter claimed illegally hacked his laptop and spread its embarrassing contents — is fighting the Biden scion’s request to drop a lawsuit against him. Biden said in a filing last week that he cannot pursue the suit because he is broke due to his art no longer selling and the wildfire...

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles abruptly removed the city’s fire chief on Friday, seeking to end the increasing acrimony between the two officials in the weeks since a wildfire devastated the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Ms. Bass said in a statement that she had removed Kristin Crowley, the chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, effective immediately. The announcement came after Ms. Bass said publicly that she herself made a mistake in leaving the country and traveling to Ghana days before the fires broke out. For weeks, she has privately told friends that she never would have left had...

DEI: LA Mayor Karen Bass is hiring an ‘outside consultant’ to rebuild the Pacific Palisades in a more equitable and environmentally sustainable way. She intends to award the contract without authorization from the property owners. ... CORRUPTION: California updated the law to allow Mayors like Karen Bass to take contributions from contractors and consultants to the city if they are award via competitive bid starting on Jan 1, 2025. This exemption is significant because it means that vendors winning contracts through competitive bids can still donate to political campaigns of officials overseeing the contract process—potentially leaving room for continued influence...

Former and current DWP officials acknowledge that if the reservoir had held water, higher-elevation areas of the Palisades would have had more water pressure, but it’s unclear for how long. The saga traces back to January 2024, when a DWP property manager spotted a tear in the reservoir's floating cover after a series of rainstorms The cover is meant to prevent animals and debris from contaminating the water and to limit algae and bacteria. When a property manager saw the tear again two days later, it seemed to have grown larger, according to the emails. DWP policy calls for minor...

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A man and a woman from Oregon were arrested over the weekend for reportedly impersonating firefighters as they attempted to enter a Palisades Fire evacuation zone in what appeared to be a legitimate fire engine, officials announced Sunday. In a news release, officials with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said the suspects, identified as 31-year-old Dustin Nehl and 44-year-old Jennifer Nehl, were spotted by LAPD patrol officers on Jan. 18. Not believing the fire truck was legitimate, police relayed the information to sheriff’s deputies, who caught up to the suspects. LASD said that when they contacted...

Domestic workers in Los Angeles say they're struggling to make ends meet after the houses they worked in burned down in the deadly wildfires. The Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire in Altadena forced thousands of people to evacuate. The fires destroyed more than 12,000 structures and 27 deaths have been confirmed by officials. According to Flor Martinez Zaragoza, founder and CEO of Celebration Nation, a non-profit organization that provides support and resources for the Indigenous and Latino community, many domestic workers now face a dire financial hardship because of their employment in areas where structures...

A Malibu resident is telling his story about how he captured a now-viral photo of a Volkswagen Bus that survived the deadly Palisades Fire. “Get out of the house, now! There’s a massive fireball heading your way,” Pacific Palisades resident Matt Baker said of a friend calling him to give him this urgent warning as the fire started. “I stayed in the danger zone far longer than I should have. I was determined to make sure all my neighbors safely evacuated,” Baker said about staying to fight the flames.

A group of California firefighters stopped a looter from robbing a burned-down house and jetting off with an Emmy Award that had miraculously survived the fiery carnage of the Eaton Fire. Smoke eaters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were working in a burned-down Altadena neighborhood on Thursday when they came across two suspicious people who were leaving one of the properties. One of the firefighters confronted a woman – wearing a dark sweatshirt and skirt over sweatpants – carrying possessions from the home including the prestigious award. ... No way, you are not doing this,” the first responder...

Experts have identified the brand-new threat that may further destroy the Golden State as Californians continue to lose their homes to hellish wildfires. At least 25 people have lost their lives and over 12,000 buildings have burned to the ground in the Palisades Fire - which has razed much of the Pacific Palisades, once a stunning coastal enclave home to the rich and famous. However, according to the US Geological Survey the worst is yet to come. As firefighters battle the flames and continue to diffuse them out, the federal agency claims landslides caused from burn scars left after the...

Josh Altman says a majority of the people are underinsured and will face challenges if they choose to rebuild in the Pacific Palisades.. "Million Dollar Listing" star Josh Altman predicts the Pacific Palisades will never be same because he doesn't expect the majority of families will return. .... He says his insurance agent told him that "90-plus percent of these people are heavily underinsured." Altman added, "I think 65-70% of the people do not go back to the Palisades or Malibu. ... Altman said people are "fed up" with the drama with various insurance policies. ... "There's a moratorium right...

“It’s ok, you can just rebuild.” “At least not that many people died.” These are the things people say to try to make it better. The truth is, Pacific Palisades will never be the same after the deadly January 2025 wildfires that destroyed entire neighborhoods this past week. The latest official update says as many as 10,000 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades Fire, which is expected to be the costliest in U.S. history. Pacific Palisades, the small ocean community wedged between Santa Monica to the south and Malibu to the north, is a little slice of heaven. Our...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass claims that her $17.5 million cut to the LA Fire Department budget did not impact the department’s ability to prevent or fight fires. But the LA Fire Chief told CNN that “the $17 million budget cut… did absolutely negatively impact” the Department’s ability to respond to the fires...

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit and was republished with permission. a growing number of skeptics are pointing to an eerie coincidence: the fires are burning in regions earmarked for major redevelopment under the controversial “SmartLA 2028” initiative. Critics allege that these fires might not be mere acts of nature but intentional acts to fast-track a dystopian agenda where artificial intelligence governs daily life. ... Now, claims have surfaced on social media alleging that the devastating California wildfires were intentionally started as part of a criminal land grab scheme to construct smart cities under the United Nations’ 2030...

Two looters were arrested recently after they dressed as firefighters and entered local homes vacated in the Palisades Fire, according to information given by the Los Angeles Police Department to community members Saturday evening. Police have arrested dozens of would-be looters who have targeted the affluent Pacific Palisades, devastated by the fire that raged last week. Many neighborhoods were destroyed, but some homes remain intact — enticing looters. The police said that in addition to twenty looters who had been arrested in the first days of the fire, seven looters had been arrested more recently. Some 400 officers were assigned...

Fires have burned through 36,000 acres in Los Angeles County, destroyed or damaged over 10,000 buildings, displaced tens of thousands of residents, and claimed the lives of at least 10 people. By midday Friday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire protections indicated that only 3% of the Eaton fire, 35% of the Kenneth fire, 37% of the Hurst fire, and 8% of the Pacific Palisades fire had been contained. While seemingly unstoppable, the Palisades fire, which began on Tuesday and has devoured homes, businesses, schools, and other structures alike, appears to have left the Palisades Village, an outdoor mall...

LOS ANGELES - A massive flare-up of the Palisades Fire erupted Friday night, forcing a new round of mandatory evacuations and shutting down major roads in the area Around 7 p.m. Friday, a new flare-up on the northeastern edge of the fire broke out, forcing evacuations in the Mandeville Canyon and Encino areas. The flames also forced the closure of the 405 Freeway at Sepulveda Boulevard near Bel-Air and Westwood.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are two lucky Hollywood stars ... 'cause both of their houses appear unscathed while the rest of their neighborhoods burn around them. TMZ has obtained photos and video of the two properties ... showing Hanks' cliffside home and Spielberg's sprawling, wooded estate still standing. Check out the clip ... the house just above Hanks' went up in flames -- with smoke still wafting in the air -- while Tom's pad stands without even a speck of ash on it. It's quite the coincidence that these two houses have survived the blaze while so many other...

Gavin Newsom became emotional when asked about Donald Trump placing the blame on the California governor for the disastrous, killer wildfires that have ravaged the state. Trump said that the governor, who he referred to as 'Gavin Newscum,' a favorite of the Republican's pet names, was at fault for the disaster. The president-elect lambasted Newsom in a Truth Social post Wednesday for focusing on environmental priorities like 'worthless fish' over those of Golden State residents. Speaking to Anderson Cooper amid the fires in Los Angeles Wednesday, Newsom was visibly hurt by the criticism. 'People are literally fleeing. People have lost...