A review of last year’s deadly Los Angeles-area fires found that communication failures and weak coordination hampered the emergency response.
The 724-page report, released Friday by safety-science organization UL Research Institutes, was commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Researchers found that local authorities lacked the preparation and training needed for extreme conditions and struggled to coordinate across jurisdictions as the fires worsened.
During the Eaton Fire, a surge of calls overwhelmed the 911 system, lead investigator Derek Alconis said. At one point, police dispatchers temporarily routed calls through a captain’s personal cellphone. Dispatchers also lost track of some firefighter units, while some crews began following captains they trusted rather than agency leaders. Alconis said confusion in command hampered evacuations.
The review also found that the Los Angeles Fire Department had not fully extinguished an earlier burn in the area where the Palisades Fire began. It said the department lacked standards for that work.
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