A new documentary and newly surfaced documents claim top California officials failed to act during a deadly wildfire, and footage plus legal discovery are fueling the controversy.

The film in question is titled Paradise Abandoned and it accuses Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of inaction during a major fire that consumed parts of the Pacific Palisades. A preview of the documentary is available as an embedded video inside this article, and the story has picked up steam after independent reporting and documents surfaced. The debate now centers on whether political decisions and operational choices left neighborhoods exposed when the flames hit.

The documentary is drawing attention for on-camera testimony from residents who say they were left to fend for themselves while the blaze moved through their neighborhoods. Those interviews describe a gap between the known risk to the area and the resources that were actually deployed on the ground. Critics are noting the contrast between what officials knew about fire risk and how the response was handled when the crisis arrived.

A preview of the film can be found online in the embedded player below. Watchers say the footage is striking for the images and the timing of officials’ presence near burning structures. Viewers will see the sequence that has become central to the controversy and to questions about leadership during emergencies.

The press summary that accompanied early coverage gives a sense of what residents report seeing and experiencing as the fire advanced. That summary says the film documents repeated failures by officials to position extra resources in a recognized high-risk area before the blaze hit. Those accounts have driven calls for a closer look at both preparedness and on-the-day decision making.

Per the outlet:

The documentary, entitled Paradise Abandoned, shows one resident after another testifying on film to the failures of government officials to respond to the fires to save their homes, even though the Pacific Palisades in particular was already identified as “a region of maximum fire risk” and yet no extra fire trucks or resources were deployed or close at hand to respond to the fires.

The film includes a sequence that many find jaw dropping: footage and eyewitness accounts of officials walking near burning buildings while firefighters did not intervene. That moment has become a focal point for critics who say it shows tone-deaf leadership at best and dereliction at worst. The imagery of officials nearby while a building burned has hardened opinions about how the incident was handled.

The documentary reports a specific scene that viewers say undercuts the idea of an active, hands-on response by leaders who were on site. It alleges that while Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom were present, firefighters did not move to save a commercial building as it burned. The detail has been replayed and discussed widely because it appears to show a disconnect between political visibility and operational action.

The outlet reported:

One man interviewed in the film pointed out that Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom were seen walking down the street as the Chase Bank Building was burning. Yet none of the firefighters flanking the officials lifted a finger to put the fire out. The Chase building burned to the ground while Newsom held a press conference feet away.

This story did not appear in isolation. Separate reporting has brought a newly discovered Wildfire Management Plan into the conversation, and that document is fueling questions about policy choices made before the fire. The memo, which dates to December 2024, is now central to legal discovery in ongoing cases related to the blaze and its aftermath.

The new document, found during litigation, is described as stating a policy preference that raises eyebrows among critics who argue elected officials should have prioritized nearby neighborhoods. Those critics say the plan reads as an abdication of responsibility for areas that sit close to populated pockets. That interpretation has been used to suggest that policy choices contributed to the scale of the disaster.

The outlet reported:

Eleven months after the Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of Los Angeles homes, we may finally have the smoking gun linking Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to the deadly blaze. A newly discovered “Wildfire Management Plan,” quietly issued by California State Parks just weeks before the Jan. 7 wildfire, states Newsom’s policy bluntly: “Unless specified otherwise, State Parks prefers to let Topanga State Park burn in a wildfire event” — disregarding the park’s proximity to residential neighborhoods.

The timeline now matters as much as the words on paper. The plan was dated weeks before the January fire, and it only surfaced during discovery in a legal process that continues to unfold. Lawmakers and voters on the right are framing the revelations as proof that leadership and policy decisions need to be examined, and they are calling for accountability where policy and preparedness did not match the documented risk.