Anonymous letter shreds LA’s review of Palisades Fire – NBC Los Angeles

An anonymous letter emailed to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Traci Park says the LA Fire Department’s After-Action Report on the Palisades Fire wasn’t thorough because some of the fire officials who made decisions during the fire also supervised the report’s preparation.

Its author or authors said they were current and former LAFD “chief officers” and captains who had more than 250 years of collective experience, and said several years of mismanagement at LAFD had led to “an extremely negative outcome” on the victims of the Palisades Fire.

“The LAFD members who authored and or contributed to this correspondence are beyond ashamed, upset, angry and sick over our inadequate and failed response to the Lachman and Palisades fires,” the letter said.

Without the authors’ names, it was impossible to verify its authenticity, but several city officials not authorized to speak publicly said the tone and detail in the seven-page letter “rang true,” and said the form and language of the letter matched other departmental correspondence.

The LAFD didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The letter writers said the city should commission a truly independent review of the Palisades Fire, and the smaller Lachman Fire that burned in the same area 6 days earlier, which the ATF said it determined was the cause of the Palisades Fire after embers smoldering underground reignited.

The letter said the mayor should convene a “Blue-Ribbon Panel” to review and correct the LAFD’s planning and response to both fires, that the entire incident should be presented to the county’s investigative grand jury, that pre-deployment protocols for red flag conditions should be strictly followed, training and staffing expanded, and improvements made to communications systems that failed during the Palisades Fire.

“It is our hope, and we pray that we will all learn from the lessons of the Lachman and Palisades fires and implement sorely needed changes and improvements; however, to learn those lessons, a proper, unbiased and professional After-Action Report must be completed for both fires,” the letter said.

Councilwoman Traci Park’s office confirmed it had received the letter but didn’t immediately comment.

Mayor Bass’ office didn’t respond directly to the letter, but said several other investigations were already underway into the Lachman Fire.

“That will happen under the next Fire Chief who is expected to be considered by the City Council in the coming weeks. The next Fire Chief will evaluate all options with a continued commitment to transparency and accountability,” Bass’ office emailed.