On Thursday, February 20, 2025, Patch reported that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has been removed from a case involving residents of Pacific Palisades who are suing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). The move follows a peremptory challenge filed against Judge Elaine Lu by lead plaintiff Spencer Pratt just four days prior.
The lawsuit, initiated on January 21, claims that the DWP’s water delivery issues significantly hindered firefighting efforts during the Palisades Fire. According to the residents, the Santa Ynez Reservoir was entirely offline and emptied at the time of the fire, leading to a critical shortage of water for fire crews. The residents assert that this lack of available water contributed to the challenges faced in combating the blaze.
In their filing, the plaintiffs noted that hydrants in the Pacific Palisades area became inoperable after three tanks, each holding one million gallons of water, were depleted within a mere 12 hours. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the DWP’s design of the water system did not provide adequate pressure for fighting urban fires, exacerbating the situation during the emergency.
Following Judge Lu’s withdrawal from the case, it has been reassigned to Judge Samantha Jessner, who will oversee the process of assigning it to another judge. The residents involved in the lawsuit were not obligated to disclose their reasons for requesting a different judge.
Source: Patch
