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Hiring a private fire crew costs thousands of dollars a day, and most work through government contracts or with insurance companies. Some wealthy property owners are calling them in directly.
By Tim Arango and Debra Kamin
Tim Arango, a national correspondent based in Los Angeles, reported from downtown Pacific Palisades, which was largely destroyed. Debra Kamin, who covers real estate, reported from New York.
- Published Jan. 12, 2025Updated Jan. 13, 2025, 10:18 a.m. ET
Monument Street, which cuts through the center of Pacific Palisades, tells two starkly different stories of the fire that has engulfed the community. On one side, lots where multimillion-dollar houses once stood are now ash and rubble. On the other, an outdoor shopping mall whose tenants include Chanel, the men’s clothier Buck Mason and an upscale sushi restaurant, is largely intact.
The 1950s standard “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” could be heard on Friday playing over speakers around the mall, known as Palisades Village, even though the stores were closed. Large water trucks stood sentry, ready for action should the fire again threaten the rows of businesses.
During the height of the fires, on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer who owns Palisades Village, was conferring with his security staff as they deployed several private firefighters from Arizona to save the shopping center (and who, Mr. Caruso said, tried unsuccessfully to save nearby homes as well).
Early Wednesday morning, after fire hydrants in the area went dry or lost pressure, Mr. Caruso called in private water trucks to assist.
“Our property is standing,” Mr. Caruso, who ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022 and lost to Karen Bass, said in an interview on Wednesday. “Everything around us is gone. It is like a war zone.”
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