LAFD turned to stars' PR firm after fire

Donations for safety efforts after Palisades blaze were used to hone agency messaging.

- ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN AND PAUL PRINGLE

A TATTERED FLAG waves above Pacific Palisades, where destruction from last January's fire remains.

(MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times)

In the months after the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation raked in millions of dollars in charitable donations to pay for training and equipment for firefighters, as LAFD leaders publicly complained about not having enough money to keep the city safe.

But some of the funds were quietly spent on something that had little to do with firefighting: a celebrity public relations firm to help LAFD leaders shape their messaging after a disaster in which their missteps figured prominently, The Times learned.

Neither the LAFD nor the foundation would say how much the charity paid the Lede Company, whose clients include Reese Witherspoon and Charlize Theron, and what exactly the firm did for the departA Lede representative declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss client matters.

"The LAFD Foundation provided communications support by hiring the Lede Company as part of its mission to provide resources to the LAFD," Liz Lin, president of the foundation, said in an email. "The Foundation was not involved in the services provided by the Lede Company. Specific details regarding the Department’s use of the Lede Company should be addressed by the LAFD."

The revelation comes as the LAFD is under heightened scrutiny for altering its after-action report to downplay the city’s failures in preparing for and responding to the fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The LAFD declined to answer questions about the work of the PR firm, including whether any changes to the report were made at its direction, vaguely citing federal court proceedings.

Federal prosecutors charged a former Palisades resident with starting a Jan. 1 fire that reignited into the Palisades fire six days later.