Pacific Palisades homeowners and reality television stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, who lost their home in the Palisades Fire, are two of the latest of multiple plaintiffs suing the city of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power for alleged failures that make it hard for firefighters to battle in the rapidly moving inferno.
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"The Palisades Fire was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the egregious failure of the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades, including having an empty water reservoir. This failure was a substantial factor in causing my clients and others to suffer enormous losses," according to the couple's attorney, Peter McNulty.
The inverse condemnation suit was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. A representative for the City Attorney's Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The complaint states that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which services Pacific Palisades, was offline before the fire started on Jan. 7, hampering the ability of firefighters to deal with the flames.
Given the reservoir's condition, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three tanks, each holding 1 million gallons of water, went dry within a span of 12 hours, the suit states.
"The city of Los Angeles deliberately designed and maintained the water supply system in this way, despite Los Angeles being in a fire-prone area," McNulty said. "In the last 90 years ... more than 30 wildfires have scorched parts of neighboring Malibu. We intend to hold the city of Los Angeles accountable."
Others who have lost their homes in the Palisades Fire are suing the Southern California Edison Co.
Pratt, 41, and Montag, 38, are former cast members in MTV's "The Hills."
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