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Firefighters working the site of a small brush fire in Los Angeles that officials said later reignited into the devastating Palisades Fire were ordered to leave the original burn scene despite tree stumps there being hot to the touch, according to a review of firefighter text messages by the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper, citing the texts, reported that the firefighters’ battalion chief told them to pack up their hoses and depart the area on Jan. 2, one day after the Lachman Fire was declared contained. Then on Jan. 7, heavy winds reignited smoldering roots from the same area, sparking the Palisades Fire, which burned some 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.

One firefighter wrote in January that crews at Los Angeles

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