{"id":128,"date":"2026-01-04T12:08:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-01-04T12:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:09:07","slug":"protests-planned-for-palisades-fire-anniversary-as-furious-residents-demand-better-from-newsom-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"Protests planned for Palisades Fire anniversary as furious residents demand better from Newsom, Bass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov.\u00a0Gavin Newsom\u00a0is heading into a firestorm, set to come face to face with a group of\u00a0 protesters who say he failed them, as the one-year anniversary of the deadly Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires arrives.<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 people have already RSVP\u2019d to attend next week\u2019s \u201cThey let us burn!\u201d demonstration \u2014 an event set to take aim at the failures of the Newsom government.<\/p>\n

\u201cTHEY LET US BURN through gross negligence, mismanagement, poor preparedness, lack of infrastructure and protocol. THEY LET US BURN today with gaslighting, lack of transparency, accountability and vision,\u201d reads a memo posted on Instagram from the group.<\/p>\n

The protest promises to demand help and accountability from leaders like Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, and will educate attendees on legal updates surrounding the rebuild. It is scheduled for January 7.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Governor<\/a><\/div>
Newsom\u2019s office told The Post the governor plans to be in Los Angeles next week and visit with fire survivors, but did not confirm attendance at any planned protester events.MediaNews Group via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is a rally. This is a protest,\u201d said Jeremy Padawer, a Pacific Palisades homeowner whose house \u2014 and nearly his entire neighborhood \u2014 was destroyed in the fires. Padawer, the event\u2019s organizer and founder of\u00a0PacificPalisades.com, an online site documenting the community\u2019s ongoing struggles, said the goal is simple: \u201cWe are speaking truth to power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Padawer said the fire was not an unavoidable act of nature, but the result of systemic failure \u2014 ignored warnings, inadequate infrastructure and breakdowns across city and state agencies tasked with protecting hillside communities.<\/p>\n

One year later, he said, the damage has only compounded.\u00a0Families remain displaced. Rebuilds are stalled.\u00a0And residents still have little clarity on how \u2014 or when \u2014 they can return home.<\/p>\n

The Palisades and Eaton fires ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, tearing through Pacific Palisades and the unincorporated community of Altadena.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Jeremy<\/a><\/div>
Jeremy Padawer, the event\u2019s organizer and founder of PacificPalisades.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the time they were contained, the fires had killed at least 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures across the region \u2014 including thousands of residences in both Pacific Palisades and Altadena.<\/p>\n

Entire blocks of Pacific Palisades remain empty lots or half-cleared debris fields, turning what began as a fast-moving fire into a prolonged, financially devastating aftermath for thousands of residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are running out of insurance money,\u201d said Jessica Rogers, a Pacific Palisades fire survivor and one of the organizers of a memorial anniversary event next week. \u201cThey\u2019re running out of savings. People are becoming unhoused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers lost her home in the fire, leaving her, her two children and their two cats without a permanent place to live. A trained social worker who once helped others navigate crisis, she now fields nonstop calls from neighbors spiraling toward financial collapse as insurance payouts dry up and temporary housing clocks run out.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Jessica6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
After the fires, Jessica Rogers\u2019 life shifted from smoke and ash to paperwork, debt and displacement.New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\"Jessica6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Jessica Rogers lost her home in the fire, leaving her, her two children and their two cats without a permanent place to live.New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Rogers, the disaster didn\u2019t end when the flames were extinguished. It shifted \u2014 from smoke and ash to paperwork, debt and displacement. She\u2019s now using her own loss to amplify the voices of families still trapped in limbo one year later.<\/p>\n

Rogers and Padawer push back on the notion that the Palisades is a wealthy enclave insulated from hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of everyday hardworking people \u2014 teachers, nurses \u2014 with dependable jobs,\u201d Padawer said. \u201cNot all finance rainmakers people assume.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some families, Rogers said, are paying mortgages, rent and HOA fees at the same time. \u201cWhen that money runs out, there is nowhere to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called the one-year mark a danger point for a community already stretched to the breaking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a severely traumatized community,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cYou\u2019re seeing compounding grief \u2014 loss of home, loss of stability, loss of identity \u2014 all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Rogers stressed the anniversary is not only about anger \u2014 it\u2019s also about hope.<\/p>\n

\n
\"California<\/a><\/div>
Jeremy Padawer, founder of PacificPalisades.com, said he invited Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass to attend the protest.Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her work centers on the Pacific Palisades Long-Term Recovery Group (Pali LTRG), which coordinates wellness programs, recovery education and community efforts aimed at reconnecting a fractured neighborhood.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 7, Rogers is organizing the\u00a0White Glove Flag Presentation and Remembrance Ceremony, hosted by Pali LTRG and Palisades American Legion Post 283, to honor the 12 Palisadians who lost their lives and recognize those helping the community rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about honoring the people we lost,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also about reminding ourselves what we stand for \u2014 and committing to rebuild together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest will follow. \u201cThey Let Us Burn!\u201d is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Palisades Village.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Aerial<\/a><\/div>
The 2025 California wildfires killed at least 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures.Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Padawer said he invited Gov. Gavin Newsom and\u00a0Mayor Karen Bass to attend the protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love it if Bass and Newsom showed up,\u201d he said. \u201cAll they would need to do is listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Newsom\u2019s office told The Post the governor plans to be in the Los Angeles area next week and visit with fire survivors, but did not confirm attendance at any events. Bass\u2019 office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Info: https:\/\/nypost.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov.\u00a0Gavin Newsom\u00a0is heading into a firestorm, set to come face to face with a group of\u00a0 protesters who say he failed them, as the one-year anniversary of the deadly Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires arrives. More than 1,000 people have already RSVP\u2019d to attend next week\u2019s \u201cThey let us burn!\u201d demonstration \u2014 an event set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsliked.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}