The brother of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) has joined a lawsuit blaming the city and others for the devastation caused by the deadly 2025 Palisades fire, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n
Kenneth Bass and his wife, Cindy, sued the city last month in L.A. Superior Court, claiming in a complaint reviewed by L.A. Material<\/a> that they suffered injuries from smoke inhalation as well as distress and anguish as a result of the destruction of their Malibu home last January.<\/p>\n The digital news outlet reported that the couple\u2019s claim is one of thousands lodged by home and business owners in connection with the fire that originated near Skull Rock Trail in Temescal Canyon and rapidly spread toward the coastal communities of Malibu and Pacific Palisades.<\/p>\n The fire ultimately burned 23,448 acres, resulting in 12 deaths, including five in L.A., and the loss of more than 6,800 structures, according to an after-action review report compiled by the L.A. City Fire Department.<\/p>\n A master lawsuit brought last year alleged the devastating impacts were caused by \u201ca series of cascading failures\u201d by several state and local entities, including the city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the state of California and the California Department of Parks and Recreation.<\/p>\n The complaint also accused the public agencies of engaging in a \u201ccampaign of misinformation and misrepresentations\u201d in the months following the fire in an attempt to \u201cconceal their responsibility\u201d for the disaster.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, it appears that LADWP and the City were more worried about protecting their image and economic interests than on protecting the residents of Pacific Palisades,\u201d lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote.<\/p>\n Bass\u2019s office told The Hill in a statement on Saturday night that there was \u201cnothing new\u201d regarding her brother\u2019s involvement in the pending lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cThousands of people are plaintiffs in this action, which names 18 public and private sector defendants,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cThe City Attorney\u2019s Office is responsible for defending the City and DWP in this lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass, who is currently in a tough reelection fight, has previously spoken publicly about her brother losing his home.<\/p>\n \u201cThe loss that you\u2019re going through, I share indirectly. It\u2019s hit my family too,\u201d she told residents during a meeting with the Pacific Palisades Community Council in January 2025, according to the Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother, who has lived in Malibu for 40 years, been through many fires, evacuated many times \u2014 this time didn\u2019t get away,\u201d Bass added.<\/p>\n Reality television star Spencer Pratt also lost his home in the Palisades fire and had placed the response by Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at the center of his campaign<\/a> to unseat the mayor. His bid ultimately fell short<\/a>, finishing in third place behind Bass and progressive city councilmember Nithya Raman (D), who are now headed to a runoff.<\/p>\n \u201cHope you sleep well at night over the next five months, because you know who hasn\u2019t slept well at all for the last 17 months? My mom. All my neighbors in the Palisades,\u201d he said in a video posted to social media<\/a> after his loss.<\/p>\n The City of Malibu has also sued<\/a> L.A. and the state to recover costs it incurred in its emergency response and recovery efforts, alleging that a \u201cseries of failures related to dangerous fire conditions, inspection, and emergency preparedness\u201d contributed to the scope and severity of damages.<\/p>\n A federal arson trial<\/a> for the 29-year-old man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades fire began on Monday, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n