Malibu Sues California, LA Over Failures Causing Palisades Fire

California and Los Angeles must pay the City of Malibu at least tens of millions of dollars in damages for creating the conditions that led to the 2025 Palisades Fire, which wiped out one-third of the oceanside community, the city said in a lawsuit.

“Indeed, to date—more than one year after the Palisades Fire—the City of Malibu is still reeling from the destruction it left in its wake: a hollowed out community, burned and destroyed buildings and homes, a shrinking tax base, emotionally and physically scarred citizens, and untold environmental damage,” said the complaint filed Tuesday in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County.

The fire that killed 12 people and destroyed some 7,000 buildings “was not an accident, an Act of God, or permissive firefighting activity shielded by governmental immunities,” the complaint said.

The state’s Department of Parks and Recreation failed to address smoldering embers from the Lachman Fire, set on New Year’s Day 2025, that erupted a week later during heavy winds into the Palisades Fire, the lawsuit alleges. A former resident of the Pacific Palisades has pleaded not guilty to charges that he started the Lachman Fire.

The LA Department of Water and Power allowed a key reservoir to sit empty, and failed to cut power to distribution equipment or to repair and upgrade fire hydrants, the lawsuit said. And pumps, tanks, and backup generators belonging to the LA County Waterworks District in Malibu failed when the fire melted electrical connections installed with above-ground, vulnerable plastic conduits.

As many as half of the jobs in Malibu were in buildings that burned down, and the extended closure of the Pacific Coast Highway prevented people from visiting the businesses that could remain open, the lawsuit said, estimating economic losses from the fire as high as $250 billion.

“This decision was not made lightly,” Mayor Bruce Silverstein said in a Wednesday news release. “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.”

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represents the City of Malibu.

The case is City of Malibu v. State of California, Cal. Super. Ct., No. 26STCV05031, 2/17/26.