WITHfears of a small forest fire that again grew into a giant fire in Palisades a few days later – most destructive in Los Angeles history – have risen in recent weeks amid reports that firefighters were ordered to leave the original site of a smaller fire despite their fears that the ground was still smoldering.
Questions now remain about how Los Angeles fire officials responded to the fire that leveled out entire communitiesand who in the agency knew about concerns that the fire could still pose a threat. A former Los Angeles City Council member says cleanup and recovery efforts should serve as a Pearl Harbor moment for the city, which should never again find itself engulfed in flames on all sides.
The LA Times published series of sensational revelations about the initial response to that first fire, the Lachman fire, in recent weeks, citing text messages showing firefighters spoke with their battalion chief shortly after it broke out early on New Year's Day. The small fire – just 8 acres – was largely extinguished hours later.
But the Times reports that firefighters were told to wind up their hoses and leave after a day, a move that came despite them telling their boss that leaving a burn scar was a “bad idea” because of the visible smoldering – some rocks and tree stumps were still hot to the touch.
LAFD previously claimed the Lachman fire was “extinguished” before firefighters moved on, saying they were “extinguished.”cold-blooded“It's a matter of repeatedly feeling with your hands for any hot spots to find any remaining fire. Any new fire emerging from the ashes would be a 'phenomenon,'” the assistant fire chief said at the time.
The Palisades fire broke out five days later. The blaze, carried by 100 mph winds, devastated much of Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga, ultimately killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,800 structures. A man has been arrested and charged with deliberately starting a fire in Lachman. He faces three federal arson charges. pleaded not guilty.
New details about concerns about the response to the initial Lachman fire were reported by the LA Times, which reported earlier this month that the department kept secret the details of the battalion commander's order to pack his things. At least one official became aware of these concerns by June.
These parts are not included in 70-page action report about a fire in Palisades that occurred in early October. That report only noted that the fire “began in the Santa Monica Mountains, below the scar of the previous Lachman Fire” and “ultimately devastated the Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu areas, remaining uncontrolled until January 31, 2025.”
“This deadly fire, fueled by Category 1 hurricane force winds, was among a series of 11 wind-driven fires that occurred over the next three weeks, devastating southern communities. California region,” the report says.
Mayor calls for investigation
Growing confusion over the timing and the LAFD's response prompted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to order an investigation into the Lachman fire last month. Bass asked interim department chief Ronnie Villanueva to investigate the cause of the fire. I'm writing to say reports last month were “extremely worrying”.
“Make no mistake, our city’s firefighters are heroes every day. We owe it to them and the people of our city. Los Angeles to ensure their fire department is managed, organized and prepared for any emergency,” Bass said in the Oct. 31 letter.
But while many investigations have looked into the cause of the January wildfires, Bass said a full accounting of the response before and after the Palisades fire will help the department adapt and reform.
“A full understanding of the response to the Lachman Fire is essential to accurately accounting for what happened during the January wildfires,” Bass wrote. “This will continue to guide our ongoing reforms, which include improving pre-deployment protocols, strengthening interagency coordination, modernizing communications technology and expanding training at all levels of personnel.”
Bass, who is up for re-election next year, newly appointed Jamie Moore as the permanent chief in charge of the fire department. Her office said Moore would lead that investigation this week, and Moore said Wednesday he would support a full independent investigation into the handling of the Lachman fire.
“The recent media attention surrounding the January wildfires has created an understandable mistrust that needs to be addressed directly,” Moore, whose position must still be approved by the Los Angeles City Council, said at a meeting of that body's public safety committee this week. “I fully support Mayor Bass’ request for an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Fire Department’s response to the Lachman fire, recognizing that transparency and accountability are vital to ensuring we learn from each incident.”
He said he is committed to a “fair and thorough process” that will help “restore trust in our fire department.”
“Our members were not listened to or heard,” Moore said. “That’s why I support Mayor Bass’ request for an independent investigation into the Lachman fire, because I want to get to the bottom of it.”
Bass' office and the Los Angeles Fire Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Pearl Harbor fires require independent investigation, critics say
Zev Yaroslavsky, who served 20 years on the Los Angeles City Council and 20 years as a member of the county Board of Supervisors, said the events surrounding the Palisades fire and subsequent reporting “still require this type of independent analysis to not only get to the truth, but to give confidence to the people of the county, the city and all of us.”
“There needs to be an independent group of people who have nothing to do with the fire services in this region… a small group of people who will look at what went well and what went wrong,” he told the Guardian. “When there is a fire, something always goes wrong.”
Yaroslavsky, who is now director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, continued: “Every incident requires post-incident analysis, and something on this scale needs to be looked at very differently. It's kind of like 9/11, it's like Pearl Harbor for the fire department.”
Even recent events with emergency warning systems have highlighted the need for LAFD to do a better job of addressing how the situation can be improved following the Palisades fire, Yaroslavsky said. This week, he said he received an alert on his iPhone intended to check emergency systems in South Pasadena, but instead the message was sent to everyone in Los Angeles County. about 10 million people.
“There's something wrong with the communications systems. I mean, there's a lot of things that need to be looked at that should have been looked at long before this,” he said.
Bass's office stressed that Los Angeles took many steps implement new tools and processes to improve fire preparedness and response, including leadership changes, improved training, and better pre-fire preparation.
Yaroslavsky said the city has two highly trained fire departments, the LAFD and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and said firefighters did a heroic job when the Palisades fire broke out.
“These are two of the best fire departments in the world, and they were ambushed by a hurricane unprecedented in our history,” he said.
But, he added, many questions remain and Bass and the LAFD need answers as communities continue to recover.
“I think morale in Altadena and the Palisades has been rocked to the core,” Yaroslavsky said, while also referencing the devastating Eaton fire. “I think the natural question is what did everyone know and when did they know it.
“There's no doubt that the mayor has suffered politically because of this. She should not be judged by what she did on day one, but by what she was going to do in the days that followed, and recovering and getting to the bottom of it. And that's still a work in progress for her.”
