Key questions not answered in wildfire inquiry

The report from McChrystal Group found, among other failures, that there was no clear guide of which county department was responsible for deciding which areas to evacuate.

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ALTADENA residents voiced displeasure Tuesday with the report and called for the state attorney general to investigate the fire response.

(TERRY CASTLEMAN Los Angeles Times)

The responsibility for evacuations is split among the Office of Emergency Management, the Sheriff's Department and the Fire Department, and none have taken responsibility for the evacuation blunders. The county also failed to consistently issue evacuation warnings to neighborhoods next to ones that were under an evacuation order, the report found.

The pushback by supervisors is notable because they commissioned the report in January and vowed it would get to the bottom of what went wrong. When it was unveiled last week, top county officials hailed it as a blueprint for improvements.

But it almost immediately faced criticism from residents and others.

Despite the shortcomings, the supervisors said they were eager to implement the report's recommendations, which included making it clear who was responsible for issuing evacuations and beefing up staffing for the Office of Emergency Management.

The supervisors unanimously approved a motion Tuesday to start the process of implementing some of the report's recommendations.

One of the report’s problems, Barger said, is that so many noncounty agencies declined to participate in the report. Several California fire agencies including the Pasadena Fire Department, the state’s Office of Emergency Services and the Los Angeles Fire Department declined to provide information, according to the report.

“It is inexcusable and I would challenge any one of those departments, or any one of those chiefs, to look the survivors in the eye and explain why they were compelled not to cooperate, because that does lead to, ‘What are you hiding?’” said Barger, who said she was “incredibly frustrated and disappointed.”