{"id":14080,"date":"2025-01-24T18:51:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/24\/spencer-pratt-heidi-montag-sue-los-angeles-after-losing-home-in-wildfire-national\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T18:51:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:51:45","slug":"spencer-pratt-heidi-montag-sue-los-angeles-after-losing-home-in-wildfire-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/24\/spencer-pratt-heidi-montag-sue-los-angeles-after-losing-home-in-wildfire-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag sue Los Angeles after losing home in wildfire – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Heidi Montag<\/a> and Spencer Pratt<\/a>, the real-life couple who rose to fame on hit reality series The Hills<\/em>, are suing the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power (LADWP) after losing their Pacific Palisades home<\/a> in the Los Angeles wildfires<\/a> on Jan. 7.<\/p>\n

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The couple filed the lawsuit Tuesday in California\u2019s Superior Court in Los Angeles County along with more than 20 other property owners and residents who were affected by the Palisades fire<\/a>. Pratt\u2019s mother, Janet Pratt, is among the property owners listed as a plaintiff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d the couples\u2019 lawyer, Peter McNulty, said in a statement. \u201cThis failure was a substantial factor in causing my clients and others to suffer enormous losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The suit claims the water issues hampered firefighting efforts and ultimately led to the damage to their properties, according to court documents<\/a> obtained by the Los Angeles Times. (Global News has not independently viewed the documents as of this writing.)<\/p>\n

The Eaton<\/a> and Palisades fires<\/a>, ignited by strong winds during one of the region\u2019s driest years on record, have killed<\/a> 28 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, putting them among the most destructive fires in California history.<\/p>\n

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There has been intense scrutiny over hydrants running dry and problems with water pressure, leading to a barrage of lawsuits against the city and the LADWP. California Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> has called for an independent investigation into the L.A. water utility over the issues.<\/p>\n

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The lawsuit mentions that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which services the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, was offline and had \u201cbeen out of commission since February 2024\u201d while awaiting repairs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith the Santa Ynez Reservoir effectively out of commission, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three tanks each holding one million gallons [3.7 million litres] of water went dry within a span of 12 hours,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit goes on to allege that the water system was designed for public use, but didn\u2019t have enough water pressure to fight major fires.\u00a0\u201cDefendants deliberately designed and maintained this water supply system in this way, despite Los Angeles being in a fire-prone area,\u201d the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n

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