Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhoods were closed to the public for months after a January firestorm, but according to the LA Times, since its recent reopening, there have been sightings of a new visitor in the neighborhood: disaster tourists.
Los Angeles City Council member Traci Park spoke out in a council meeting, saying: “My office and others have received numerous reports about commercial tour operators conducting disaster tours in the Pacific Palisades.”
“They’re looking to profit off of destruction and other people’s losses. It’s really gross and it needs to be stopped.”
The LA Times has also spotlighted how in a bid to stop the trend from becoming routine whenever disaster strikes the area, the City Council unanimously approved restricting “disaster tourism” buses from the Palisades fire zone and any disaster zone.
The Palisades fire broke out through the Pacific Palisades on the 7 January 2025, destroying more than 6,000 structures and leaving 12 people fatally injured.
Park said the tour buses were not only unsettling but also potentially distracting and hazardous for crews continuing to work in the area.
She added: “It’s also … dangerous because we’re still actively clearing fire debris.”
As a result of the vote on Park’s motion, the city’s Department of Transportation will restrict tour buses from any area declared part of a natural disaster emergency and the ban will last through the duration of the emergency response.
The motion also called on the department to consider permanent tour bus restrictions in certain areas of the Palisades once the emergency expires, given the Palisades’ narrow, winding and steep streets.
According to the LA Times, since the reopening of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood following the January wildfires, `disaster tourism’ buses have emerged- a trend that the council are trying to halt.
