LAFD Spox Profiting Off His Department’s Massive Failures Is the Latest Insult to Palisades Fire Victims – RedState
After spending the year insulting the residents of Pacific Palisades by being the spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s propaganda and deflection related to the Palisades Fire, LAFD Public Information Officer Erik Scott decided to add even more insult to injury by twisting their tragedy for his own gain.
Scott announced that he has written a memoir about the fire, “Calm Amidst Chaos: A Frontline Memoir of the Palisades Fire and the Voice That Guided a City,” which is described as “a gripping behind-the-scenes account of the Palisades Fire of January 2025,” and dedicated to the 12 people killed in the fire and the firefighters who battled the blaze for weeks.
If Scott wanted to tell the truth about things like wind speeds, the effect of the empty Santa Ynez Reservoir that hampered the initial air assault, the failure to completely extinguish the Lachman Fire on January 1, and more, this might be helpful and worth reading. But that’s not the case, and judging by the book’s subtitle and the recommendations on the back cover, the book really is about itself.
DIVE DEEPER: Bomb: Key tank was EMPTY when Palisades fire broke out, contributing to loss of homes and lives
Oh, and the biggest insult? Instead of releasing the book on a Tuesday, as is usual, he released his book on January 7, the anniversary of the fire.
In a now-deleted post, LAFD PIO Erik Scott, the cover-up spokesperson, announces that his “memoir” about the Palisades fire will be released on January 7.
The first anniversary of the fire.
Books are traditionally released on Tuesdays. January 7, 2026 is a Wednesday. Wait a day… pic.twitter.com/XqfjAleqgZ
– Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) December 16, 2025
Amazon lists it as a management and leadership book.
I wonder if Cpt. Is Scott trying to build his post-LAFD career on this? He already describes himself as a “frequent speaker” (on his LinkedIn)@Hotshot_Movie @spencerpratt pic.twitter.com/hP5NkC18na
– Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) December 16, 2025
The back cover of the book, which features a foreword by Scott’s pal Sean Penn, says:
Behind the flames lies the human story of courage and resilience
When a wind-driven blaze swept through Southern California, it pushed first responders and entire communities to their limits. Amid high winds, mass evacuations and non-stop news stories, millions of people sought clarity from the chaos.
In Calm Amidst Chaos, Los Angeles Fire Captain and Public Information Officer Erik Scott delivers a gripping behind-the-scenes account of the January 2025 Palisades Fire, one of the most complex emergencies the region has ever faced. Combining front-line interviews, on-site observations, Hollywood red carpets, and leadership forged in impossible circumstances, Scott reveals the human side of disaster: the emotional wreckage left behind, the toll on firefighters, and the quiet courage that carries a city through its darkest hours.
This is an apolitical and deeply human memoir about resilience:
- Leading when the stakes are life and death
- Navigating the Hidden Challenges Behind Major Incidents
- Witness communities will rise from the ashes
- Finding calm when the world is on fire
Both cinematic and grounding, Calm Amidst Chaos is a tribute to courage, a study in leadership under fire, and a testament to what happens when ordinary people face extraordinary conditions and how courage can spread faster than flames.
Palisades Fire victims don’t want ‘equal parts cinema and land’; they want truth and accountability.
Scott had failed to get former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to endorse the book. Garcetti wrote:
“Captain Erik Scott has a gift for humanizing crises: his constant communication kept Angelenos informed and reassured when they needed it most. Calm Amidst Chaos is a powerful reflection and moving story of that same grace under pressure.”
Be skeptical, but I doubt many Angelenos were reassured by his voice.
Another endorsement perfectly describes the state of journalism in Los Angeles. Robert Kovacik, anchor and reporter, NBC Los Angeles, wrote:
“When breaking news breaks in Los Angeles, Captain Erik Scott is the voice reporters trust. Calm Amidst Chaos takes you behind the cameras to show how leadership and empathy can save lives.”
While Scott has traveled the world with his wife throughout 2025 when he’s not working overtime, the residents of Palisades are trying to rebuild their lives. Many homes that survived were uninhabitable due to smoke damage, and ultimately only about 200 of the approximately 7,000 destroyed residences began to be rebuilt.
I spent some time in Pacific Palisades today, documenting what happened and what didn’t happen in the 11 months since the fires. The negligence of state and local officials before, during and after the fires is despicable and inexcusable. pic.twitter.com/KAT88RWpPw
– Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) December 9, 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continually praise themselves for leading recovery efforts, but their words stand in stark contrast to the reality I saw when I recently drove through Pacific Palisades. This video from the Palisades Bluffs area is long, but necessary to show the magnitude of what is not happening in the area.
This is a long video, but watch it to get a little taste of what Pacific Palisades really looks like right now. This comes from one neighborhood.
Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass promised to speed up construction after the Palisades fire to cut red tape and regulations. In… pic.twitter.com/xwWRTApjQH
– Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) December 10, 2025
Here’s that “voice journalists trust” at the start of the Palisades fire, boasting about the LAFD’s air assault capabilities.
And, a few weeks later, he broke the story of the LAFD’s deviation with the Wall Street Journal.
Profiting from the disaster caused by his department’s ineptitude is disgusting, but not entirely surprising.
Editor’s note: Politicians like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass continue to deflect attention, lie, and lie about the failures that led to deadly disasters like the Palisades fire.
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