NEED TO KNOW

• Raman's Red Flag Day BBQ restriction was stripped before a council vote.
• LAFD logged 16,982 homeless-related fires in 2025, a record.
• Mayoral race polling shifted sharply against Raman after the proposal.

LOS ANGELES, CA (TDR) — A motion to ban backyard barbecues on high-fire-danger days in Los Angeles died in committee this week after a fellow Democrat stripped the language before it reached a council vote.

The big picture: Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman introduced the motion directing city officials to examine emergency grilling restrictions during Red Flag Warning days. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez killed it with a competing motion that stripped the BBQ language.

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• Raman's public-safety motion instructed residents in Red Flag areas to "cease all activities that increase risk of fire, such as the use of outdoor barbecues or fire pits."
• The proposal also would have affected restaurants that cook with open flames.
• Red Flag Warnings are NWS alerts issued during high winds and dry conditions.

Why it matters: Los Angeles is still rebuilding from January 2025's Palisades and Eaton fires, which exposed deep fissures in the city's fire-readiness posture.

• The Palisades fire destroyed 6,837 structures and killed 12 people.
• LAFD's operational budget was cut $17.5 million in the fiscal year preceding the fires.
• Voters traumatized by wildfire are watching which proposals translate to actual risk reduction.

Driving the news: The motion arrived as the mayoral race entered a volatile stretch. Raman, a Democratic Socialists of America–backed councilwoman, has been losing ground to independent Spencer Pratt, a Palisades fire victim running on encampment cleanup.

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• Emerson polling showed Mayor Karen Bass at 30%, Pratt at 22%, and Raman at 19%.
• Pratt responded with a grilling video captioned "Come and take it."
• DSA-LA stopped short of endorsing Raman's mayoral run despite backing her prior council campaigns.

What they're saying:

• Monica Rodriguez, LA Councilwoman — "The last thing Angelenos need is a ban on hosting a carne asada in their own backyard."
• Monica Rodriguez, LA Councilwoman — "We're not checking the weather for red flag conditions before planning a backyard barbecue. This is what families do."
• Spencer Pratt, LA Mayoral Candidate — "Come and take it."

Yes, but: Red Flag Warning days do carry documented elevated fire risk. CalFire restricts open flames on public land during them, and the City of Hidden Hills adopted a similar barbecue-restriction ordinance in 2025.

• LA's existing fire code already prohibits open flames on roads and fire roads within Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
• Raman's framing was not invented; it was poorly targeted at the lowest-frequency ignition source.

Between the lines: The political asymmetry sits in plain view. LAFD recorded 16,982 homeless-related fires through mid-December 2025 — an average of 46 per day. The agency has tracked more than 75,000 such incidents since 2020, with nearly a third of all LAFD calls in the last six years involving someone experiencing homelessness. Backyard grills, by any available data, account for a near-rounding-error share of LA's wildfire ignitions. A motion regulating the latter while the former goes structurally unaddressed is a political choice, not an evidentiary one. Rodriguez named it directly when she asked why City Hall is "singling out residential neighborhoods" instead of enforcing against encampments.

What's next:

• Rodriguez's replacement motion advances without grilling restrictions.
• The mayoral race heads toward the June primary with fire policy as a defining issue.
• A separate LAFD memo on encampment fire response is pending council review.

Should cities be allowed to restrict legal activity on a homeowner's own property when the statistical fire risk lies elsewhere — and if the answer is no, what's the threshold that would change it?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting from Fox News, AOL/California Post, Townhall, ABC7 Los Angeles, and RealClearInvestigations

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