Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned board members in writing two years ago that her department needed to create a pair of fully staffed crews dedicated to clearing brush and maintaining wildfire lines to bolster the part-time team it had, consisting of mostly young volunteers.

But despite her plea for funding, the City Council authorized only a fraction of it and hiring stalled, caught up in the red tape of L.A. bureaucracy, according to a new report.

While some residents have sued the government over alleged missteps that played a role in the expansion of the devastating wildfires this month, residents have little recourse beyond electing new city leadership, according to a local lawyer whose clients include homeowners looking elsewhere for relief after the fires leveled their communities.

“It’s a political disaster and may result in Bass being recalled,” Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based attorney who is representing multiple local clients in lawsuits in the aftermath of the destruction, said about Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “But there is nothing that can be done legally.”

The fire department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

While city officials may be safe from legal repercussions, separate lawsuits against insurance companies and those who may have been responsible for igniting the wildfires remain on the table, Rahmani said.

“The only real viable case is against Edison,” he told Fox News Digital.

A building burns on Sunset Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2025. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Southern California Edison, a utility company, is facing several lawsuits alleging that its equipment helped start the Eaton Fire, which has scorched northern parts of Los Angeles County, including Altadena. Rahmani’s firm is involved in the litigation against the utility and is also representing victims with insurance claims and seeking aid from government programs pro bono, he said. 

The Palisades Fire, which tore through the Pacific Palisades community, is being described as the most destructive wildfire in the history of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.