After the Palisades and Eaton fires in January 2025, a FireAid concert raised hundreds of millions of dollars that were to go (allegedly) directly to the victims for rebuilding. We know through multiple audits and grant documentation that not much of it actually made its way to those individuals; instead, a significant portion has been awarded to nonprofits that allegedly were going to then distribute it to victims or that offered services needed for recovery, such as mental health resources to assist survivors in healing from the trauma of those days and grieving what they lost.
So it's really insulting to know that a $1 million FireAid grant to the Los Angeles Parks Foundation was used to rebuild a playground at the Palisades Recreation Center featuring a "first responder" theme, complete with a fire truck equipped with a blaring siren that will undoubtedly bring back horrible memories for the children and parents for whom that noise was the soundtrack playing as they ran from the fast-moving flames that day.
The fire broke out around 10:30 AM on what was, until then, a perfect, if blustery, California day, so school was in session, and students waited on playgrounds for their parents to pick them up.
These kids in Pacific Palisades lost both their homes and their school in the fire.
— The Eyes Source (@theeyessource) August 24, 2025
One of the few things Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass rebuilt for them afterward was a playground, designed with a fire truck and ambulance theme. pic.twitter.com/yTG13qnSEN
And then many of them were stuck in traffic on Palisades Drive attempting to escape.
It was a day none of them want to remember, but can't forget.
Palisades fire victim Spencer Pratt, who's now running for Los Angeles mayor, highlighted the insanity of the theme and demonstrated how loud that siren is.
Karen bass used fire aid money to rebuild the palisades park that didn’t even burn down with this deranged design. pic.twitter.com/jkif9pw90m
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) August 23, 2025
Pratt said:
"You wanna see one of the more insane things you could possibly see?
"This is the Palisades park that didn't burn down, and that the city took FireAid money to rebuild and redesign in a fire truck, fire station, fire-themed frickin...like, what? These kids all had to run out of school, flames coming down at them, crying moms, and now their park that they have to come back to is just this triggering troll park?
"Watch this. What? What are they thinking? This is what kids wanna hear after their town burned down? Let's put sirens in their park? Who are you people making these decisions? I think you're sick in the head."
Getting that playground completed was a big deal for Bass, who partnered with her former opponent Rick Caruso's nonprofit, Steadfast LA, on the project. Caruso engaged a private firefighting company to save his shopping center, Palisades Village, so perhaps he doesn't have the same terrible memories of the fire as those who lost everything.
#PalisadesFire Lakers Coach JJ Redick LA Sports Strong foundation joins w/City of LA Mayor Karen Bass and Rick Caruso’s Steadfast LA in plan to rebuild & upgrade Palisades Rec Center, the “heart” of community. Estimated cost $25-30 million…funds now being raised. @knxnews pic.twitter.com/rZsyI7F07L
— Pete Demetriou (@knxpete) April 11, 2025
The nearly 40-year-old playground was slated for renovation before the fire; in July 2024 three themes and accompanying design documents were presented to the Park Advisory Board for community input and collaboration: ocean, desert, or forest. At the time of the fire, a final theme had not yet been decided upon, and the LA Recreation and Parks Board and the LA Parks Foundation thought it was best to ditch the three themes for which they already had designs and leave the community out of the discussion, with the rationale that "if parents have not weighed in before, to do so now would delay the project." And the last thing Karen Bass wanted was to have the project delayed.
Palisades Rec Center Completes Construction of First Responder-Themed Playground.
— Palisades News (@PalisadesNewsLA) August 5, 2025
The new playground–which replaces a near-40-year-old one–was made with funds largely generated by the FireAid Benefit Concert. pic.twitter.com/vCLSYlZf3r
Once the playground opened on July 31, 2025 (less than a month behind schedule - imagine that!) residents started voicing concerns. Local newspaper Palisadian-Post ran an informal poll asking whether the theme should be changed, and nearly 77 percent of respondents said yes. On August 28, Nathan Younker of GameTime, the vendor that donated the playground equipment, explained that they could swap out the first responder themed paneling and change the appearance of the vehicles to create a "Pacific Coast Highway" theme:
What is “themed” now, Younker explained, are a fire truck, an ambulance and a fire station structure, small and midsize rocking toys, and play panels, including a “police climber.”
“With so many vehicles, we can make use of the structural elements of the playground and changing the appearance of vehicles to a [‘peace wagon’-style] bus, a station wagon, a lifeguard buggy, etc.,” Younker said, which would create a “Pacific Coast Highway” theme.
Things like the fire station playhouse could be replaced with a “nature discovery playhouse,” Younker said.
Likely due to the fact that people haven't started to move back to the Palisades yet, the playground theme hasn't changed. It's just another reminder of how little Mayor Bass cares about the challenges facing residents of her city.
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