(NewsNation) — Families of people killed in the Palisades Fire have filed more than a dozen wrongful death lawsuits against the city of Los Angeles and the state of California, racing to meet a year-end deadline that allowed them to recover damages for their loved ones’ pain and suffering.
The lawsuits were filed during the final weeks of 2025 before the Dec. 31 expiration of a California law that permitted families to seek compensation for pain, suffering or disfigurement endured by victims before their deaths.
The fire, which started Jan. 7, 2025, killed 12 people and destroyed more than 7,000 structures, making it one of the most destructive wildfires in California history.
“While much of the attention this past year has focused on the destruction of thousands of homes and businesses, the one-year anniversary of the Palisades Fire is especially difficult for those families whose loved ones perished in or as a result of the fire,” attorneys for the families said in a statement Monday.
The wrongful death complaints were filed as short-form documents in the consolidated Palisades Fire Litigation and include circumstances of each victim’s death and photographs of the deceased.
Among the cases filed are lawsuits on behalf of the families of Shelley Sykes, Laura Caldwell, Patrick Keighley, Enzo Bar and others.
The attorneys filing the cases — Alexander “Trey” Robertson IV, Roger Behle, Kevin Boyle and Matthew Stumpf — serve as court-appointed plaintiffs’ co-liaison counsel in the Palisades Fire Litigation.
The lawsuits come as mounting evidence has raised questions about the state and city’s handling of the fire response.
Documents and text messages obtained through the litigation have revealed that firefighters warned it was “a bad idea” to leave a smoldering New Year’s Eve fire but were ordered to pack up anyway.
That fire reignited six days later into the catastrophic Palisades blaze.
Other evidence shows state parks officials restricted firefighting operations in “avoidance areas” to protect endangered plants, and the fire reignited in one of those restricted zones.
The state has denied responsibility for monitoring the fire, claims contradicted by photographs, text messages and fire department call logs.
California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.34, which allowed families to recover damages for a decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering, was in effect between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2025.