Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag have filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) after their home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire earlier this month.
The lawsuit, filed in California’s Superior Court in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, Jan. 21, argues that the devastating fire was “an inescapable and unavoidable consequence” due to how the city and LADWP allegedly managed water supply in the area.
Pratt’s mother, Janet Pratt, is also on the list of plaintiffs, along with a man named William Pratt. It’s not confirmed what relation he has to Spencer, however, he and Janet live in the same home.
Spencer’s sister, Stephanie Pratt, confirmed in an emotional Jan. 8 post on her Instagram Stories that their parents’ home was also destroyed in the Palisades fire just hours after Heidi and Spencer’s was.
The plaintiffs are described as “property owners, tenants and individuals” who suffered “untold devastation” due to the fire such as damaged homes, insurance coverage shortfalls, mandatory evacuations, medical expenses, business interruption and emotional distress.
The lawsuit references the Santa Ynez Reservoir in the Palisades — which the filing says has “been out of commission since February 2024” awaiting repairs — and claims the LADWP decided to “operate the water supply system” despite the drained reservoir to save money.
The reservoir needed maintenance due to a tear in its floating cover.
“With the Santa Ynez Reservoir effectively out of commission, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three tanks each holding one million gallons of water went dry within a span of 12 hours,” the lawsuit alleges.
“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,” stated Peter McNulty of the McNulty Law Firm, attorney for the Pratts. “We intend to hold the City of Los Angeles accountable.”
Since the L.A. fires broke out on Jan. 7, reports of water problems have drawn widespread attention. Officials previously acknowledged there were issues with water pressure due to what they called “tremendous demand” on the system in the Palisades in early January.
More broadly, however, experts have told PEOPLE that urban infrastructure is not currently equipped to battle the kinds of firestorms like the one that swept through L.A. this month, fueled in large part by viciously strong winds.
“I honestly don’t see how … anything beyond 5, 10, 15 times more investment in the water system could have really made a dent in what happened in some of these fires,” says Greg Pierce, who teaches environmental policy at UCLA.
“People are upset now and want answers,” Pierce says. (Gov. Gavin Newsom has also ordered a probe.)
“I’m sure there’s things that could probably increase the resilience in these systems, one to three times, that we’ll do — and that could have been done, and that would’ve been great. But I don’t think that ultimately made the difference,” Pierce says, noting other key factors like how wind limited aerial support of the firefighters and the spread of vegetation in the city beforehand.
The Pratts’ suit takes a different view and points to previous criticism of the water supply from Gus Corona, the business manager of IBEW Local 18, the employee union for the LADWP.
“It’s completely unacceptable that this reservoir was empty for almost a year for minor repairs, Corona told The Los Angeles Times in an article published on Jan. 10, the lawsuit notes. “This work should have been done in-house, and they shouldn’t have depended on a contractor to do it; I truly believe it’s something that could have been avoided.” (The LADWP stated, the lawsuit alleges, that the reservoir was left empty for a year so it could seek a contractor to fix it instead of “using in-house personnel.”)
The lawsuit also alleges the water system was designed for the public to use, so it didn’t have enough water pressure to fight the major fire. It alleges that Mark Pestrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works stated that the hydrant system was “not designed to fight wildfires” by itself.
“Defendants deliberately designed and maintained this water supply system in this way, despite Los Angeles being in a fire-prone area,” the lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs are suing for inverse condemnation, alleging that the “Defendants’ operation of its water supply and related infrastructure was a substantial cause of Plaintiffs’ damages.”
Their damages include costs of repair to their properties, the loss of enjoyment of their properties and loss of wages and earning capacity.
They are suing for an undisclosed amount and are also asking for attorneys’ fees and trial by jury.
Spencer told PEOPLE this month that he and Heidi, who shared that their home was destroyed in the devastating fire on Jan. 8, are still active on social media because they depend on the income.
“If we were rich, I wouldn’t be on an app,” he said in part. “I’d be buying a new house and starting to order things. So, I don’t think we would’ve shared anything vulnerable.”
He added, “[Social media] is how we already made money before. That’s our way of life. Heidi and I have been Snapchatting every day probably for eight years, our whole life.”
PEOPLE reached out to attorneys for Spencer and Heidi, as well as LADWP and the city of Los Angeles for comment.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source people.com ’
