LAFD admits Jan. 7 failures and vows fixes

City releases report on Palisades fire, says staffing will rise during high-risk weather.

- BY ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN

GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times

THE REPORT says several top fire officials "had limited or no experience" with a blaze like the Palisades fire.

Los Angeles firefighters will remain on duty for an additional shift during red flag weather warnings in a mandatory protocol instituted after top fire officials failed to pre-deploy engines to Pacific Palisades in advance of the devastating Jan. 7 fire.

Mayor Karen Bass' announcement Wednesday came after the Los Angeles Fire Department released a long-awaited after-action report finding that firefighters were hampered by an ineffective process for recalling them back to work, as well as poor communication, inexperienced leadership and a lack of resources.

The release of the 70-page report, and Bass' recitation of changes the department has made in line with the report, came on the heels of federal prosecutors arresting and charging a 29-year-old Uber driver with intentionally setting a blaze on Jan. 1 that later grew into the Palisades fire.

City officials said in August that at the request of federal officials, they were holding off on releasing their own report until the federal investigation into the cause of the blaze was complete.

A Times investigation published a week after the fire found that fire officials did not pre-deploy any engines to the Palisades before the flames erupted, despite warnings about extreme weather. The officials also did not require firefighters to stay for an additional shift.

In preparing for the winds, officials chose to staff up only five of more than 40 engines available to supplement the regular firefighting force. According to the after-action report, the firefighters who voluntarily returned could staff only three engines.