{
  "id": 13096644,
  "title": "This luxury mall in L.A. survived the wildfires—but not without a lot of help",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/this-luxury-mall-in-l-a-survived-the-wildfires-but-not-without-a-lot",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-09T10:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91618315/caruso-palisades-village-fire-adaptation"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Palisades Village, a luxurious outdoor shopping mall in Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades, managed to survive the devastating wildfires of January 2025. The property, which contains over 6,800 structures, largely remained unscathed despite the destructive flames. After a year and a half of smoke cleanup and refresh, the mall recently reopened, while the surrounding neighborhood continues to grapple with a combination of homes under reconstruction, charred land, and uncertainty.\n\nThe mall's fortunate escape from the flames was partly due to the presence of a private firefighting service, a rare luxury among the destroyed structures. Caruso, the developer behind the mall and other popular L.A. shopping centers such as The Grove, had arranged for this specialized firefighting team to be on standby ahead of the fires. The company's CEO, Corinne Verdery, stated that they learned early on the importance of building systems, materials, fire prevention protocols, and having an emergency response team on hand.\n\nThe company's proactive approach to wildfire mitigation became evident when the Rosewood Miramar Resort, another one of Caruso's developments, was threatened by the Thomas Fire in 2017. The resort was in the early stages of construction when the wildfire approached, leaving it vulnerable and unprotected by local fire resources. To safeguard the property, Caruso hired a private firefighting company with its own trucks and water. These firefighters protected the site for several weeks, aggressively clearing brush and watering down wood structures, and even deploying fire-retardant material onto the wood framing to protect the building materials. The Thomas Fire was eventually contained, and the Rosewood Miramar Resort opened in March 2019 without significant damage.\n\nThe company's approach to fire preparedness has expanded to all of its properties throughout Southern California. Caruso's executive vice president of construction, Tom Veje, explained that the projects use fire-resilient materials like plaster, brick, stone, cementitious siding, and noncombustible poly-slate tile roofing. Utility lines are buried underground, and every building is equipped with fire sprinklers. Additionally, screened vents block embers from reaching attics, which can lead to fires inside buildings with older, more open vents. While the company adheres to standard fire-resilience approaches, they also strive to maintain the mall's distinctive ornamental style. At Palisades Village, this includes adapting fabric storefront awnings by applying fire retardant before installation, ensuring they survive the fires unscathed.",
  "summary": "Palisades Village, the high-end outdoor mall in Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades, is a rare chunk of the neighborhood that wasn’t destroyed in the wildfires that struck the region in January 2025. More than 6,800 structures perished in the Palisades fire, but aside from a few singed awnings and roasted patio cushions, the mall was relatively unscathed. After a year-and-a-half smoke cleanup and…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}