they are responsible for
1) cutting LAFD budget in a drought year that was obvious enough for Fire Insurance companies to read the tinder and get out of dodge
2) eliminating brush management procedures for YEARS turning this from a non-story to a raging killer fire
3) preventing LAFD from performing controlled burns
4) the drained reservoir was multiple failures a) offline water storage for a year+ b) didn't tell the fire department about it c) didn't actually perform the maintenance they were supposed to preform, they just drained it for no reason d) inevitably got caught with their pants down
5) create such a terrible insurance regulatory environment as to leave thousands with no coverage.
6) the LA emergency fire fund with $50B in liabilities was funded with $200M.
7) insane building requirement meant no one could renovate, turning the area into a suburban tinderbox
shall I go on?
No they didn't start the fire, but they sure let it be as bad and as big as they possible could.