Months after the Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January, an independent review of Los Angeles County’s emergency response, specifically on public alerts to evacuation protocols, revealed “a series of weaknesses” amid the devastating and deadly fires.

The 133-page report commissioned by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and conducted by the McChrystal Group was released on Thursday, Sept. 25. It assesses the county’s alert and evacuation systems during the fires and provides recommendations for future response efforts.

There was “no single point of failure” related to how alerts, warnings, notifications, and evacuations were conducted, but rather a “series of weaknesses” such as outdated policies and inconsistent practices that impacted how effective it was, the report said. Also, these issues didn’t play out in the same way across the Palisades and Eaton fires.

It’s worth noting that the report examines the roles and actions of county departments like Los Angeles County Fire Department or the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, not actions or resources at the federal or state level or of city partners.

“Outdated and inconsistent polices, protocols, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) created ambiguity around evacuation authority and responsibilities,” the report said. “In many cases, decision-making roles were unclear, and pre-incident public messaging responsibilities lacked standardization across agencies.”

This led to preparedness strategies that weren’t uniform across jurisdictions and “slowed coordinated efforts.” Additionally, issues such as challenges in training and staffing shortages further strained the response, the report found.

Among the agencies facing a major staffing issue is the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. While some staffing increases have been approved for the department, the increases “have not been sufficient to build the professional capacity necessary for effective emergency management in the nation’s most populous county,” the report said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she called for the review to “make sure we had a clear, fact-based look at how alerts, warnings, and evacuations were handled” in a statement.

“This isn’t about pointing fingers,” Barger said. “It’s about learning lessons, improving safety, and restoring public trust. My commitment is straightforward: we will take these findings and turn them into action so our communities are better protected in the future.”

The report examined policies and procedures; analyzed over 150,000 alert and evacuation data records; GPS tracking of responding units; community feedback from public sessions; and interviews with emergency responders and senior officials.

Here’s a look at just a few of the findings in the report.

Communication to the Public Before a Wildfire

One finding related to how Los Angeles County communicates to the public regarding being prepared for a severe weather threat is that the responsibility for who leads county efforts to share messages about preparedness in an extreme weather threat isn’t clearly identified.

Essentially, official communication to the public about the major fire risk ahead of time didn’t go out “in a universally accessible format from county sources beyond a handful of posts and the amplification of (National Weather Service) language through county social media and press releases.”

The report found insufficient public education on evacuation zones (in feedback, some residents didn’t know the name of their evacuation zones) and personal preparedness.

Who Does What in Evacuation Operations?

The report found that “policies and protocols are outdated and unclear regarding the roles and responsibilities involved in the decision to issue an evacuation warning or evacuation order.” Also, there is no explicit outline of the process or chain of command in the decision to issue an evacuation order or warning.

Among the “priority recommendations” related to evacuation protocol is updating these policies, procedures, and Los Angeles County code to ensure first responders and emergency management clearly understand their responsibilities regarding issuing evacuation orders, communicating these decisions, and conducting evacuations.

But another issue found during the review was law enforcement and emergency managers reporting inconsistent training around wildfire evacuations, “highlighting the need for cross-disciplinary exercises.”

Using Technology, and the Issues It Comes With

Various tools related to situational awareness and information sharing are used by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, but there were some challenges related to access and use.

“This lack of access and standardization created a disconnect between field personnel and command staff, the report said. “Incident Commanders were often unable to see what field units were observing in real time, limiting their ability to make informed decisions about evacuation timing, resource deployment, and incident escalation.”

But another challenge was the unreliable connectivity.

“The over-reliance on cellular connectivity and cellular data was often cited as a challenge, as coverage was limited at times due to tower outages,” according to the report. “Access to reliable satellite data and internet connectivity would allow for more consistent information sharing…”

What Did This Report Look At?

The review examined policies and procedures; analyzed over 150,000 alert and evacuation data records; GPS tracking of responding units; community feedback from public sessions; and interviews with emergency responders and senior officials.

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Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palisades, Eaton fire response review reveals LA County has work to do. Why?
Reporting by Paris Barraza, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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