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“Literally the Entire Plot of Chinatown” — L.A. Fires spark land grab theories, scary resemblance to Maui disaster

Mustafa Gatollari
12–18 minutes

In the wake of the Pacific Palisades fires that ravaged L.A., eerier similarities have been made to the flames that engulfed Maui.

Oscar Wilde once famously said “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” back in 1889. And there are throngs of people who believe that this is the case with Los Angeles’ recent outbreak of fires. If you drive up and down California’s Pacific coast, you’ll see reservoirs of water dotting the highway. These are often brought up in the state’s “water wars” debate.

According to some, there isn’t a shortage of water. Others go so far to say that its retention is rooted in politically motivated land management. Akin to the plot of the 1974 film Chinatown. In the film, water is rerouted and kept away from certain areas, devaluing property values. Private investigator Jake Gittes gets caught in the middle of a land acquisition plot. He subsequently learns that politicians and high powered business men have bought up the devalued land. Then, they plan to reroute the water to raise its value, making a fortune in the process.

A land grab?

Connections to this plot point and the response, or lack thereof, to the fire have been made online. Former Navy Intel Officer and Jack Posobiec wrote on X: “Literally the entire plot of Chinatown (1974) is about the California Water Wars. And how corrupt bureaucrats and predatory elites intentionally dumped water into the ocean. [In order] to create an artificial drought to devalue land so they could buy it up.”

This correlation, coupled with reports of individuals being caught intentionally starting fires has fueled speculation. Moreover, a number of folks have likened the disaster to the Maui fires that raged throughout the island in August of 2023. One of the biggest scandals tied to the Hawaiian tragedy that resulted in at least 100 deaths was that of land acquisition.

Those who believe there’s a larger, more inimical ploy occurring with the L.A. fires have noted several eyebrow raising factors.

Dry hydrants

Furthermore, throngs of individuals expressed their shock that fire hydrants in affected areas ran dry. CNN writes that “no water system in the world could have handled the LA fires.” The Los Angeles Times also writes fire fighting crews: “have repeatedly been hampered by low water pressure. And fire hydrants that have gone dry. These problems have exposed what experts say are vulnerabilities in city water supply systems not built for wildfires on this scale.”

However, many social media posters were quick to point out that even Malibu, a beach city, had bone dry hydrants.Due to its geography, Malibu is said to have access to a reliable water supply. Which is primarily sourced from the Metropolitan District of Southern California.

Adding further intrigue, is how Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ignored questions pertaining to fire department budget cuts. When prompted by a reporter to address why she was in another country as the fires raged, Bass stayed silent. When Bass was subsequently questioned as to why the Fire Department’s budget in Los Angeles was slashed by millions, she didn’t provide an answer.

CBS News reported just a month before the fires, LA’s fire chief warned the 2%, $17.6 million cut would have adverse consequences. In fact, Chief Kristin Crowley’s ominous portents at the time almost precisely detailed emergency response failures to the LA fires. She said the cuts “severely limited the Department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies.”

Allocation of Funds

If you’re looking for a red herring to distract from the LA Fires land acquisition theory, it’s the DEI thread. Californians have skewered government leadership for prioritizing identity politics over human safety. LAFD Deputy Chief Kristine Larson has become the subject of ire for “heartless” past comments regarding fire victims. In one interview, she responds to a question of whether or not a female firefighter can carry a male victim.

Larson appears to “victim blame” when replying to the hypothetical assertion that she can’t carry someone’s husband out of a fire. “He got himself in the wrong place,” she says. One social media poster also highlighted other talking points’ in Larson’s video. Particularly, her assertion that representation matters to fire victims. The Deputy Chief argues those in need of help will want to be rescued by someone who looks more like them. Unless they’re someone’s husband, of course.

Furthermore, Larson’s $399,000 annual salary has also become a point of contention. Although Los Angeles has a history of large-scale fire threats, it still had millions of its firefighting budget cut. At the same time, however, the city had money “allocated to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.” This includes funds for “housing for transgender homeless…[and] giving syringes to the homeless.” Additionally, over $14,000 was given to a “Gay Men’s Chorus” program. $100,000 of taxes were given for Juneteenth Celebrations, and another $100,000 for LA’s “Midnight Stroll Transgender Cafe.”

Woke diversion?

Stoking the flames of identity politics can be seen as a surface level issue over the real problem at hand = competence. Several individuals have called out Los Angeles’ preferential treatment of inclusiveness over efficacy. Many of the fires had “zero containment,” allowing them to spread freely. Because of this cataclysmic failure, outraged cries against narratives praising diversity hires have reverberated online.

Chief among them is the response to this Lavender Magazine headline. It reads: “Amid Palisades Fire, Los Angeles’ First LGBTQ+ Fire Chief is Proving Lesbians Get it Done.” It’s not difficult to see where this conversation will lead to: gay defending/bashing.

Numerous individuals have maintained that sexual orientation is irrelevant — it’s competency that matters most. Evidently, the fire department, Karen Bass, and state Governor Gavin Newsom’s inability to effectively prepare and quell these flames proves their incompetence. Other narratives be damned.

In the fervor of these fires and looking for possible skulduggery, it’s easy to fall prety to misinformation. Some social media posters are claiming that the LAFD turned away 60 fire trucks from Oregon. The state lent these vehicles to California to aid in quelling the flames. This is false — the trucks were allowed in the state after passing preliminary safety inspections.

Remember Maui?

While accounting for race and sexuality over ability could very well have exacerbated the LA fires’ spread, is it meant to reroute indignation? If so, what’s the cover-up and where should wrath be placed?

After the Maui fires raged on, the question of land acquisitions started popping up online. Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison were named as some of the billionaires buying up acres and acres of property in the region. For the most part, these stories began to die down towards the end of 2023.

In February of 2024, NPR reported that tech billionaire Marc Benioff was “quietly buying up land in Hawaii.” It should be noted that Benioff’s purchases are in Waimea, which is located on an entirely separate island from Maui, and is around 70 miles away.

Buy on the low

As for Maui, as of August 2024, 85% of its residents are still reportedly out-of-towners. Initiatives like the Lahaina Community Trust promises to keep its land “in the hands of its people.” However, Route Fifty reporter Molly Bolan writes that locals are “watching to see how those efforts play out.”

In March of 2024, The Guardian writes that efforts for “land grabs” were swift in the wake of Maui fires. Burned and beleaguered residents were shocked by the immediate offers from realtors in the wake of the fire. To them, it was an obvious attempt to capitalize on a tragedy.

Recent data published in early 2025 also shows that “foreign land grabs” are worsening in Hawaii. Civil Beat writes that there’s been a 65% increase in outside ownership of local farmland. In just five years, 112,000 more acres of arable land in the region shifted to non-Hawaiian entities.

LA property values

It’s no secret that property values in Los Angeles have skyrocketed since COVID-19. SF Gate reported in September of 2024 that some areas in Southern California have seen home costs rise as much as 43.8%.

Redfin reports a similar trend in Maui, where residential valuations spiked over the course of 12 months. As of November 2024, “Maui County home prices were up 15.4% compared to” 2023. It appears that this increased demand has also influenced homeowners to fork over their properties, too. That’s because 100 more homes were sold in the area in November of 2024 than there were a year prior.

In the wake of a disaster, there are mass insurance payouts to consider. And it isn’t an easy process. Speaking from personal experience after losing a home to hurricane Ida, it took our family nearly a year to receive a payout. And there were numerous hurdles to deal with. We went through several adjusters assigned to our house claim — three of them ended up quitting their jobs with our provider, Sedgwick. By the time we were given an adjuster who stuck with us, the coverage amount wasn’t enough to cover the damage to the home.

This necessitated us to hire an external representative who argued on our behalf to get more money. They then took a percentage of the additional funds they secured for us from the insurer. Thankfully we were able to afford a rental unit that opened in our town close by.

The waiting game

However, not everyone can be so fortunate. Many Maui residents were caught and are still caught in insurance payout limbo. This may make them feel compelled to take a lump sum cash offer from a wealthy land developer. According to Redfin, the median home price in Maui stands at $1.2 million now. Which makes it all the more troubling to learn that a destroyed condo in the area sold for 1/10th that amount.

Local news outlet KHON 2 reported that the Aina Nalu, Lahaina unit sold for $140,000 in January of 2024. The piece states that the seller was eager to sell “because the fire was too traumatic.”

As of this writing, a current Zillow search of sold units shows properties carrying values exponentially higher than that. The cheapest sold condo in Lahaina is a 252 sq. ft studio that was taken off market for $450,000. The priciest was a 846 sq. ft. 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo that sold for $930,000.

The LA/Maui connection

So what does this have to do with the LA fires? Well, like KHON 2 wrote, “prior to August 2023” the average condo unit sale in Aina Nalu was around $885,000. After the fire, people were able to scoop up properties in the area from traumatized residents at a fraction of the cost.

Also, like the LA Fires, Maui’s Fire Departments suffered from a “lack of preparedness” during the immolations. Emergency services were heavily criticized in Maui, just as they are being now in LA. Furthermore, there’s the curious origins of the Maui fires, which were attributed to downed power lines. These lines belonged to the Hawaiian Electric Company, and there’s video of the re-energized lines setting vegetation aflame.

Here’s where things get nuts. The current CEO and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is Janisse Quinones. Prior to holding this $750,000 a year position, she was a Senior VP at PG&E.

Guess what the origin of California’s 2021 wildfire, which was the second largest in the state’s history? PG&E’s power lines came into contact with a tree, which started a chain reaction of flames. This resulted in over 3,000 damaged structures and numerous deaths.

Watch for land grabs

Financial analysts believe that insurance claims could reach $10 billion in the wake of the LA Fires. With such a massive number, don’t be surprised when you hear stories of delayed payouts. Also like Maui, there will probably be reports from afflicted individuals receiving calls from land developers.

As of now, Redfin has the median price of a home in the Pacific Palisades listed at $3.3 million. Keep an eye on any sales traumatized residents are letting their properties go for at this time. And, magically, if officials are able to get water to these affected areas is suddenly not a problem.

So what’s the theory? High ranking government officials worked with power companies in order to destroy land and displace residents. Weaponized incompetence was implemented to ensure that the fires would cause maximum damage to valuable plots of property. This was done in the hopes of forcing residents to sell their precious real estate, so wealthy land developers can gobble it up. Moreover, it bears an eerie resemblance to the situation in Maui. That, for the most part, is playing out the way everyone feared it would in the wake of its aftermath.

Zoning Laws

In the wake of the Los Angeles fires, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order pertaining to rebuilding. The California Department of Housing and Community Development states that the initiatives tied to this order will “help Los Angeles rebuild faster and stronger.”

That’s because several environmental, permit, and review requirements are being lifted. Specifically, for properties “substantially damaged or destroyed in recent Southern California wildfires.”

According to the state agency’s website, additional laws will be put in place to help combat “price gouging on building materials.” Furthermore, these consumer protections extend to “storage services, construction, and other essential goods.” Laws pertaining to the executive order will be in place until January 7th, 2026.

Reason penned a piece highlighting this executive order as a step in the right direction. However, the outlet features an argument that’ll have large-scale property owners salivating: restructuring zoning laws. The piece argues housing shortages are largely attributed to current property zoning regulations. Under its present structure, “some 78% of the residential land in LA is zoned for single family residences only.”

This, Reason states, makes creating “new housing in response to demand” a difficult prospect. Unsurprisingly, the piece states that re-zoning would benefit “working and lower middle class people.” Aka, allowing massive multi-unit apartment rentals to be built upon this re-zoned land.

Corporate Interests

Claims have been made online that Newsom is “working with developers to change zoning in burn areas to allow mass apartments.” However, community notes on X have indicated that the claim is not true. And Governor Newsom has gone on record confirming that no such deals or discussions are in place.

Additionally, Newsom has stated that he is currently in talks with Hawaii’s governor Josh Green. Which included the matter of “staving off the threat of land grabbing.”

Newsom said the following. “I was just talking with Josh Green, the governor down in Hawaii, who had some ideas around some land use concerns he had, Around speculators coming in and buying up properties and the likes.” The California governor stated that his administration is preempting this phenomenon. “We are already working with our legal team to move those things forward. And we’ll be presenting those in a matter of days, not just weeks.”

USA Today also reported that Newsom implemented measures against land grabbing. “Temporarily banned ‘unsolicted undervalued offers’ to buy properties in 15 specific fire-damaged’” areas.

Let’s see if these stipulations stick. And if re-zoning laws do come into effect, and apartments are erected, how many will be dedicated to working class and lower middle income families? My bet is that this won’t last long. But again, this is just a theory.

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