Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag 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, 41, and Heidi, 38, were among nearly two dozen plaintiffs – which also included Spencer’s mother Janet Pratt – in the lawsuit which was filed on Tuesday, January 21, per Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone reported on Thursday, January 23 that the plaintiffs are alleging in the lawsuit that the city of L.A. 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 suit read, per 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.”
According to the outlet, the suit claimed 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.”
The Santa Ynez Reservoir – which the suit claims has been awaiting repairs and “out of commission since February 2024” – is referenced within the lawsuit.
“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 read, per People.
Spencer’s sister Stephanie Pratt revealed via an Instagram post on January 7 that The Hills couple had lost their homes to the fire.
In the social media post, Stephanie, 38, shared that she was devastated for her family.
“Honestly looking for advice. I’m frozen in shock. How horrible for my sweet little nephews to watch their house disappear like this. They must be so scared and confused,” she captioned a photo of the fire. (Spencer married his Hills costar in November 2008 and the pair share two sons, Gunner, 6, and Ryker, 13 months.)
Stephanie also followed up with an Instagram Story to expand on the news.
“I am beyond heartbroken for my brother, Heidi & the kids,” she wrote alongside a photo of Spencer watching the blaze. “Just spoke to my dad- he tried to save my brother’s house but the wind is so strong there was nothing he could do.”
In addition to Spencer and Montag’s house burning down, Spencer’s parents, who resided nearby, also lost their home.
