Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt Sue City Of Los Angeles For Wildfires That Destroyed Their Home

On Jan. 21, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, reality TV stars who gained public recognition from the Laguna Beach spin-off The Hills, sued Los Angeles for the wildfires’ destruction of their home.

Over the last few weeks, wildfires have erupted across Southern California, forcing the evacuations of hundreds of thousands of people. The Eaton and Palisades fires, among the strongest, have destroyed over 16,000 structures and resulted in the deaths of at least 28 people.

Pratt and Montag filed the lawsuit alongside over 20 other property owners and residents affected by the Palisades fire. Montag and Pratt blame Los Angeles’ municipal water department for the issues experienced when trying to aid firefighting efforts.

Problems with water pressure and hydrants running dry have led to a slew of lawsuits against the city and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has announced there will be an independent investigation into the LA water utility.

Montag and Pratt’s complaint, along with many others, specifically mentions the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which provides for the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and has been awaiting repairs since February 2024. The water utility previously told the Los Angeles Times that restorations on the reservoir would not be implemented until April or May 2025.

The couple’s lawsuit subsequently called the Palisades Fire an “inescapable and unavoidable consequence” of the city’s lack of actions, as hydrants in the neighborhood were connected to the reservoir and quickly ran dry, leaving the firefighters without enough water to extinguish the fire.

Montag and Pratt’s lawsuit specifically detailed, “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.”