Saving the Mall, Aid for All

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, owner of the Rosewood Miramar, hired private firefighters and arranged for water tankers to save his Palisades Village Mall from the Pacific Palisades Fire that burned through 23,713 acres of prime California real estate, destroying 5,000 properties and (at the time of writing) killing at least 10 people.

Jarring video showed many of the properties near the mall burned to ashes, but Caruso’s prescient decision saved his multimillion-dollar property.

Fire crews for hire can cost between $3,000 to $20,000 a day and are normally contracted with insurance companies and the government.

“Our property is standing,” Caruso told the New York Times. “But the surrounding area is gone. It is like a war zone.”

In 2022 Caruso ran for mayor against Karen Bass, who has been heavily criticized for her handling of the devastating fires.

Two of his children’s homes were destroyed in the conflagration. Rick and his wife Tina have donated $5 million to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Foundation.