XPost: alt.wildland.firefighting, alt.los-angeles, alt.politics.miserable-failure
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics
https://nypost.com/2025/01/15/us-news/la-fire-bosses-chose-not-to-deploy- available-engines-firefighters-when-palisades-fire-erupted-records/
Los Angeles fire bosses deployed just a fraction of its firefighters and
trucks to the deadly Palisades Fire until it was already out of control — sending just five of the 40 available fire engines and holding back 1,000 firefighters, according to a damning new report.
The critical decisions — blasted by experts and ex-fire chiefs as a spate
of “missteps” — were made even as extreme warnings were coming in about life-threatening winds that turned the blaze into the most destructive in
Los Angeles history.
“You would have had a better chance to get a better result if you deployed those engines,” former LAFD Battalion Chief Rick Crawford told the Los
Angeles Times.
“You give yourself the best chance to minimize how big the fire could get.
… If you do that, you have the ability to say, ‘I threw everything at it
at the outset.’”
“That didn’t happen here,” he continued, adding the choices were part of a “domino effect of missteps” by officials.
Officials held off on ordering hundreds of available fire crews to remain
on duty for a second shift last Tuesday, which would have doubled the
manpower on hand, to help battle flames taking hold in the Pacific
Palisades neighborhood, according to internal fire department records
obtained by the Times.
Despite being available, no extra engines were readied in the Palisades
region prior to the fire breaking out there, according to the logs.
LA’s Deputy Chief Richard Fields, who is in charge of staffing and
equipment, stressed that his plan was “appropriate for immediate response”
and slammed critics for playing “Monday morning quarterback.” His boss,
Chief Kristin Crowley, also defended the decision.
The Times also reported that before the fires, LAFD leaders decided not to deploy additional engines to fire-prone areas like the Pacific Palisades. However, nine engines were positioned in Hollywood and the San Fernando
Valley in anticipation of fires breaking out there.
Meanwhile, additional manpower was only called up in the now-destroyed Palisades enclave after the flames was already out of control, the logs
show.
“The plan you’re using now for the fire you should have used before the
fire,” said Crawford, who now runs emergency and crisis management for the
US Capitol.
“It’s a known staffing tactic — a deployment model.”
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/000-available- firefighters-40-water-96739679.jpg?resize=300,422&quality=75&strip=all
LA’s Deputy Chief Richard Fields, who is in charge of staffing and
equipment, stressed that his plan was “appropriate for immediate
response.”
LAFD
Crawford, as well as other former chiefs with lengthy experience in fire tactics, stressed that at least 24 of the more than 40 engines should have
been staged in the Palisades and other hillside regions in advance.
Fields told the Times that he stands by the decision — given that calls
across the apartment the night the fire blazed out of control were double normal.
Hurricane-force Santa Ana winds blasted the city, whipping up to 100 mph
and spreading embers for miles beyond the fire.
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/kristin-crowley- speaks-press-los-96507727_302611.jpg?resize=1536,1024&quality=75&strip=all
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, also defended the decision.
AP
“It’s very easy to Monday-morning quarterback and sit on the couch and
tell us what we should have done now that the thing has happened,” he
said.
“What we did was based on many years of experience and also trying to be responsible for the rest of the city at any given time of that day.”
“I accept that we could be scrutinized for not having enough after the
thing has happened,” Fields added. “But I would challenge any of those
people that scrutinize that to make a different decision prior to the
thing happening.”
Officials, including Fields, haven’t detailed the exact reasoning behind
the early decision-making but have suggested it came down to ensuring
resources were still available elsewhere across the city for non-wildfire- related emergency calls.
Fire Chief Crowley, too, argued that leaders had to be strategic with
limited resources they had available.
“The plan that they put together, I stand behind, because we have to
manage everybody in the city,” Crowley said.
She previously claimed Mayor Karen Bass’ funding cuts to the department
had left the LDFD without the resources it needed to fight the fires.
Crews fighting the Palisades Fire also reported early on that they
struggled to fight flames after local hydrants ran dry due to low water pressure.
It has since emerged that the 117 million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir in
the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood was empty and undergoing repairs to its torn cover when the historic blaze started ravaging the
region a week ago.
The Palisades Fire, along the coast, has been blamed for eight deaths as
the wildfires continue to destroy the area. The fires across the region
caused up to $250 billion in damages.
Cal Fire reported containment of the Palisades Fire at 18% as of Tuesday.
Conversation
DOB
15 hours ago
Well someone made a decision not to increase staffing when they apparently
had plenty of resources to do so. That will obviously be figured out.
Whoever made that decision needs to go. Experience is the most important
thing climbing the ladder of ranks in the FD, someone suppressed it for financial reasons. The price will be quite steep.
Les Wages
10 hours ago
DEI was never about being competent or “saving lives” or making
communities safer. It’s about getting as many unqualified DEI hires on the payroll as you can and then endlessly promoting yourselves as social
justice warriors and making public safety decisions based on “equity”. Competency was never a prerequisite.
chuckie Three
12 hours ago
LA’s Deputy Chief Richard Fields = DEI promotion. I feel you LA, we have
the same DEI staffing and nepotism in NYC. Thankfully, Adam's is under indictment, so are all his deputy mayors, friends and relatives.
NYPost sends trolls ??
13 hours ago
So the immediate official in charge chose to put trucks where fires
weren't instead of putting them where fires were and had been the week
before. Seems a lot more culpable than either the mayor or the governor considering how disastrous the fire became.
Kevin Crouth
11 hours ago
There’s enough Blame to cover ALL of Them.
And THEN Some.
Average Citizen
12 hours ago
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Brian Williams must be happy
that he was put on administrative leave before the fires started.
Nikolas de
12 hours ago
I watched a resident who filmed the first fires - it took 45 minutes for a copter to show up. It was out of control by the time the lafd showed up.
You can stop the winds or a fire but you can prepare for it. None of it
was done. Failure from too top to bottom.
Prevention and planning didn’t exist.
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