While McChrystal Group’s After Action report on the Los Angeles County response to January’s wildfires leaned mostly on the response to the Eaton fire, it did include references to the response to the Palisades disaster on the same day, Jan. 7.
The report, released on Thursday and commissioned by county officials, detailed the contrasts between the responses to the fires by county agencies, but also similarities in how evacuations were executed.
It noted that the response to the Palisades fire benefited from a “strong interagency coordination,” with resources that were pre-positioned, with “tested evacuation strategies.”
Those advantages were heightened because the fire broke out during the day in a community more familiar with wildfire risks, with nearby Malibu often the scene of fires.
But in Altadena, the dynamics were vastly different. The Eaton Fire ignited in the evening amid fierce winds, darkness and power outages. It also occurred in a town not as accustomed to fires scorching through neighborhoods, the report said.
Here’s more on what the report laid out to the response in the Palisades.
– The county issued 51 zone status changes for the Palisade Fire, which included 32 evacuation warnings and 19 evacuation orders.
– For both fires, the report identified systemic issues that impacted the alert and evacuation response, such as outdated and inconsistent policies, protocols and standard operating procedures that created ambiguity around evacuation authority and responsibilities.
– For the Palisades fire, the county’s Office of Emergency Management sent a message with the first emergency alert and notification at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, based on Incident Command’s decision to issue an evacuation warning for Sunset Mesa.
– Given prior experience with the Woolsey Fire in 2018 and the Franklin Fire in 2024, along with the Santa Monica Mountains’ high-risk designation for wildfires, the L.A. County Fire Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department worked side-by-side — initially as part of Incident Command, agencies quickly responding to the fire, and joining forces later in Unified Command, meaning all agencies and jurisdictions working together — at 11:36 a.m.
The Unified Command is a structure that brings together the Incident Commanders of the major organizations involved in the incident in order to coordinate an effective response, while at the same time allowing each to carry out their own jurisdictional, legal, and functional responsibilities.
– The Palisades Fire affected more than 20,000 people and destroyed 6,837 structures, including homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as power, sewer and water systems. Similarly, the Eaton Fire impacted nearly 23,000 people, destroyed approximately 9,400 structures, and damaged more than 1,000 more.
– The Palisades Fire claimed 12 lives and caused at least four non-fatal injuries. The Eaton Fire resulted in at least 19 confirmed deaths and nine non-fatal injuries.
– In both the Eaton and Palisades fires, residents said that while evacuating, they encountered blocked roads and did not witness any emergency personnel helping to direct traffic.
– The report recommended that the efforts and expectations in the Palisades area be used to develop standard baseline efforts, procedures and activities across the county for fire preparedness.