Rick Caruso states lack of water to combat Pacific Palisades fire is due to incompetent management

Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer who ran for mayor in 2022 but lost to Karen Bass, expressed his frustration over the lack of water supply during the Pacific Palisades fire that destroyed multi-million-dollar real estate. He criticized the city for what he called “absolute mismanagement.”

According to Caruso, there was a severe shortage of water in the Palisades area, with no water available from the fire hydrants. He emphasized that while he did not blame the firefighters, he believed that the city was responsible for the crisis. These comments were made during an interview with Fox11 Los Angeles.

“Our mayor is currently out of the country, leaving a burning city with inadequate resources to combat fires,” Caruso noted. He compared the situation to that of a third-world country, expressing concern over the city’s inability to effectively address the ongoing crisis. 

FOX 11 reported that Bass is currently heading back to California. The mayor reportedly is on a pre-planned trip to Africa.  

To the mayor, city council and county representatives, Caruso said the public must ask: “Why didn’t you work to mitigate this? What was your brush mitigation program?” 

“This is a window into a systemic problem of the city — not only of mismanagement, but our infrastructure is old,” Caruso said.

Caruso said he evacuated his home in Brentwood on Wednesday morning and that his daughter’s home was already destroyed by the fire. His family was still waiting for news on how one of his son’s homes fared.

Torrance firefighters are seen gearing up to fight the Palisades Fire, as residents try to escape the site in Pacific Palisades, California, on Jan. 8, 2025.  (Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Several homes around his shopping center were “fully engulfed” in flames, and the mall itself was damaged, he said. 

“The chronic under-investment in the city of Los Angeles in our public infrastructure and our public safety partners was evident and on full display over the last 24 hours,” Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park said at Wednesday’s press conference alongside Quiñones. “I am extremely concerned about this. I’m already working with my team to take a closer look at this, and I think we’ve got more questions than answers at this point.”