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Los Angeles releases internal report on response to Palisades Fire
A former mobile home park in Pacific Palisades had become oceanfront dirt lots by mid-June, six months after fire tore through the neighborhood and others nearby.
(
Erin Stone
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LAist
)
Topline:
The Los Angeles Fire Department today released a long-awaited internal report on its response to the Palisades Fire. The report details challenges with staffing and communication — and highlights a lack of readiness in one of the region’s most robust firefighting forces.
Staffing issues: Inadequate resources were dedicated to the initial firefight, the report says. At the same time, many firefighters worked more than 36 hours straight, compromising their safety.
Public in the dark: Evacuation orders were delayed, causing the public to flee and block roads firefighters needed to access to get to the fire. LAist has documented how first responders have struggled to communicate with the public during disasters at least since the Woolsey Fire in 2018.
More training: The report hammers home the need for additional training so that first responders and the public know what to do in a major wildfire. Some chief officers struggled with the complexity of the crisis, the report says. They were unfamiliar with what they should be doing, so they reverted to duties they performed when they were at lower ranks, the report says. That left tasks incomplete and command positions empty.
The context: The report was released hours after federal prosecutors announced the arrest and charging of a man in connection with the fire.
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