A mutiny in a Malibu community fire brigade is holding up millions in donations meant for fire prevention efforts, and now one side is suing for $10 million.
In December 2025, disagreements about leadership splintered the Community Brigade, as 92 of the group’s members departed and started their own fire brigade, according to court documents.
But the group they left is fighting back, in a lawsuit that claims the separated group is infringing on trademarks and holding donations and equipment meant for the first group.
Both groups serve the greater Malibu area, including Malibu West, Point Dume, Big Rock, Hidden Hills, Corral Canyon, Topanga Canyon and County Line.
The suit, filed in March by the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation, is seeking $10 million.
It accuses members of the group that broke off of committing charity fraud and trademark infringement and blocking the foundation from computer systems. The defendants have denied those accusations.
The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focusing on disaster preparedness, and holds the trademark for the Community Brigade. It got approval from Los Angeles County for its operations, according to the lawsuit.
The defendants have represented their newly formed group as “‘the Community Brigade,” and “t[ook] credit for actions that were performed by the LAEPF,” the foundation says in court documents.
The suit also seeks a declaration that the foundation is the rightful and lawful owner of the “Community Brigade” trademark name and logo, as well as the money and assets donated to the foundation for the Community Brigade program.
The two groups use similar logos, with the foundation’s brigade the “L.A. County Fire Dept. Community Brigade” and the defendant’s logo as “Community Brigade.”
“They still don’t have the endorsement of LA County Fire Department, but the (Community Brigade) logo misled people that way, their advertisement misled people that way, and they were out getting money on their own behalf, but using LAEPF’s reputation and names,” said Ali Parvaneh, an attorney for the foundation.
About 40 people remain with the foundation’s group, which says it’s large enough to handle any response.
At the same time, the defendants are continuing their fire preparedness work, including a firefighting training session that was held this summer.
The defendant brigade filed a motion to dismiss the case, but a judge denied it and ruled it can go forward.
The defendants respond
The evolution of the brigade can be confusing to those who are unfamilar with it.
The defendants – the group that broke away – had community fire brigades in the area for years. Then, in 2023, the fire brigade became a part of the foundation, which trademarked the name. But in 2025, the defendants weren’t happy with how things were going. So they broke off and formed their own brigade.
On an Instagram page, the new group notes that it is not affiliated with the foundation or LA County Fire.
The defendants’ group argues in court documents that the group that broke away, made up of mostly Malibu community members, view the foundation as soley an “administrative arm” of the community fire brigade, which had existed in varying previous forms for at least ten years. The brigade becoming a part of the foundation in 2023 was meant to support administrative work such as paperwork, finalizing contracts and insurance, according to court documents.
“… LAEPF was not part of these “Brigades” but was focused on academics and delivering goods to first responders during and after incidents. The LAEPF Board of Directors was — and remains today — mostly academics, not from the community of Malibu,” the defendants’ filings state.
Eventually, the foundation did not provide “the level of transparency, accountability, or distributed governance and adequate representation that had been promised to the Brigade,” the defendants said.
Meetings about issues were held, but agreed-upon solutions never happened, and instead “the LAEPF wrongfully terminated Brigade leadership, locked the Brigade out of its storage, withheld personal protective equipment from the newly trained class of volunteers and continued to defame Brigade leadership,” according to the defendants’ filings.
The Community Brigade had been established years prior to the foundation’s involvement, holding training sessions and community meetings, the defendants said. They argue that they have been using the Community Brigade name in the Malibu area for multiple years.
The new group denies any charity fraud, and argues that donations intended for their group are being held up by the foundation. No donors believed that their group was the foundation or that they were donating to it, the defendants say.
They argue that the foundation is holding donations meant for their brigade, which has resulted in community members asking for their donations to be allotted to the new group, and donor lawsuits are anticipated, according to defendant filings.
“When substantial amounts of donations were raised by Brigade leadership after the Franklin Fire and Palisades Fire – over $2 million – LAEPF started spending the money without adhering to promised protocols… Despite Brigade requests, LAEPF refused to provide the level of transparency, accountability, or distributed governance and adequate representation that had been promised to the Brigade,” the defendants said.
Different groups, same mission
Both brigade groups, meanwhile, say they’re committed to serving their communities.
“The most important thing is for the Community Brigade to focus on its mission of fire preparedness, brigade training, and home hardening to strengthen and protect Malibu and surrounding areas,” Evan Grant, attorney for the defendants, said in a statement.
“My commitment is ultimately to the work, and to being of service. I feel strongly about wanting to support Topanga and these other communities too,” said Kate Buckwald, a volunteer with the foundation’s Brigade.