On 7 January, wildfires took hold of LA, killing 27 people and forcing more than 150,000 residents to evacuate, many of whom have lost their homes. Almost three weeks later, the fires remain uncontained, with strong winds continuing to allow the blaze to destroy entire neighbourhoods.
LA is an area well known for its host of celebrity residents and one famous couple who lost their Pacific Palisades home is stars of The Hills, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag. They have since filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power (LADWP) following the destruction of their home in the Palisades wildfire.
Spencer and Heidi were among two dozen plaintiffs – which also included Spencer’s mother Janet Pratt – in the lawsuit which was filed on 21 January. They allege that the city of LA and its water department mismanaged the water supply, leading to 'an inescapable and unavoidable consequence'.
'LADWP and City of Los Angeles had a duty to properly construct, inspect, maintain and operate its water supply system,' the lawsuit reads, according Rolling Stone. 'The Palisades Fire was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the water supply system operated by LADWP and City of Los Angeles as it was planned and constructed. The system necessarily failed, and this failure was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs to suffer the losses alleged in this Complaint.'
The lawsuit also claims the city's water department made the 'conscious decision' to operate the water supply system with the reservoir drained and unusable as a 'cost-saving' measure. They are referring to the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which the lawsuit claims has been awaiting repairs since February 2024.
'With the Santa Ynez Reservoir effectively out of commission, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three tanks each holding one million gallons of water went dry within a span of 12 hours,' the lawsuit reads.
The reality TV couple, who have two sons, have been documenting the aftermath of the fires on social media, sharing videos of their destroyed neighbourhood and revisiting the site of their home to see if they could retrieve any of their possessions.
They have also been encouraging fans to stream Heidi's 2010 single 'I'll Do It', which has since gone viral and reached the top of the iTunes chart, to help financially support them and their family.
Heidi responded to her sudden chart success on social media. 'Thank you for the overwhelming love and support of my music, and really rallying behind us in this devastating time, and making it such a blessing.'
She added, 'Thank you for helping support us, helping build us back up, helping to encourage us, give us hope and faith and excitement in such a dark, dark time, so thank you so much.'
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).