Palisades Residents: They Let Us Burn

Adriana Stone 1 1 min read

Palisades Residents: They Let Us Burn

Nearly 1,000 people showed up in Pacific Palisades on the fire’s one-year mark. They came to grieve. They came to complain. They came to demand answers.

The message was short and sharp. People want rebuilding. They want faster permits. They want clear action from leaders.

FOX News reports:

‘They let us burn’: Palisades Fire victims protest leadership one year after catastrophic wildfires

Organizers and residents said the response last January felt slow and unprepared. Jeremy Padawer, who helped set up the rally, put it bluntly:

“We didn’t have water, we didn’t have reservoirs, we didn’t have personnel, and there was no emergency response,” said Jeremy Padawer, organizer of the “They let us burn” rally.

People at the rally pointed to city and state leadership. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were named specifically. Some speakers said this wasn’t about party politics. It was about basic readiness.

Local councilmember Traci Park spoke to the crowd and later told reporters the city fell short where it needed to perform.

“These are constituents who feel that they were really, in many ways, let down on January 7th, 2025,” Park said. “All of the systems that we desperately needed to work on that day in history failed around them.”

Tensions were real. People shouted. Some cried. Some chanted. Signs read “They let us Burn” and “Fix the Red Tape.” One resident, Chad Skowron, was direct about the political fallout.

“You’re out of here,” he told Fox News Digital. “There’s no chance you’re getting re-elected.”

Residents want three things: faster permitting, fewer surprise fees, and clearer timelines. They also want better emergency resources in place before the next disaster.

Organizers said the turnout was part grief and part strategy. This was a public airing of months of frustration. They want officials to be accountable and to speed up recovery.

Local news crews covered the event. There’s video and social posts capturing the scene and the mood. Watch the main video report here:

And see social posts from people at the rally, including real-time reactions and photos:

The anger at the rally is understandable. A year later, people are still waiting to rebuild lives and homes. They want fewer obstacles and more action. That’s what brought them into the village square that day.

Send this to a friend