The writer of the Los Angeles Hearth Division’s after-action report on the Palisades fireplace declined to endorse it due to substantial deletions that altered his findings, calling the edited model “extremely unprofessional and inconsistent with our established requirements.”
Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook dinner emailed then-interim Hearth Chief Ronnie Villanueva and different LAFD officers with the topic line “Palisades AARR Non-Endorsement,” about an hour after the extremely anticipated report was made public Oct. 8.
“Having reviewed the revised model submitted by your workplace, I have to respectfully decline to endorse it in its present kind,” Cook dinner wrote within the electronic mail obtained by The Occasions. “The doc has undergone substantial modifications and comprises important deletions of data that, in some situations, alter the conclusions initially introduced.”
Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook dinner complained to former interim Hearth Chief Ronnie Villanueva about deletions and revisions within the Palisades fireplace after-action report.
(L.A. Metropolis Mayor’s Workplace)
He continued, “Whereas I absolutely perceive the necessity to handle potential legal responsibility issues and to change sure sections in session with the Metropolis Lawyer to mitigate litigation dangers, the present model seems extremely unprofessional and inconsistent with our established requirements. I strongly urge you to rethink publishing the report because it stands.”
Within the electronic mail, Cook dinner additionally raised issues that the LAFD’s ultimate report can be at odds with a report on the January wildfires commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace, which has but to be launched.
“I’m involved that substantial disparities could exist between the 2 stories,” Cook dinner wrote.
Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom, mentioned in an announcement Tuesday, “The Governor commissioned an unbiased evaluate by the world’s main fireplace security specialists to make sure the general public receives an entire, correct, and unvarnished accounting of the occasions main as much as the Palisades fireplace and the way responding companies carried out their response.”
Cook dinner — who emails present offered a ultimate draft of the after-action report back to Villanueva in August — has declined to remark. Makes an attempt to succeed in Villanueva have been unsuccessful.
The LAFD has refused to reply questions from The Occasions in regards to the deletions and revisions. Mayor Karen Bass’ workplace mentioned the LAFD wrote and edited the report, and that the mayor didn’t demand adjustments.
On Sunday, The Occasions reported that Cook dinner was upset in regards to the adjustments to the report. The day prior to this, The Occasions had disclosed the watering down of the after-action report after analyzing seven drafts obtained by a public data request. Essentially the most important adjustments concerned the LAFD’s failure to order firefighters to remain on obligation for an extra shift and to totally pre-deploy engines in high-risk areas earlier than the Jan. 7 fireplace, because the wind warnings grew to become more and more dire. It’s unclear who precisely directed the revisions.
Cook dinner’s Oct. 8 electronic mail laying out his issues in stark language provides to the rising proof that metropolis and LAFD officers tried to burnish the LAFD’s picture in a report that ought to have been an trustworthy evaluation of the division’s failings in getting ready for and combating the hearth, which killed 12 folks and destroyed hundreds of houses. The aim of such a report is to forestall comparable errors.
Cook dinner’s electronic mail reached Bass’ workplace in mid-November, in keeping with Bass spokesperson Clara Karger.
Karger mentioned final week that “the Mayor has inquired with Chief Moore in regards to the issues,” referring to Jaime Moore, who grew to become LAFD chief final month.
The Occasions submitted a public data request final month for the entire mayor’s emails in regards to the after-action report, a request that the town has not but fulfilled. Bass’ workplace offered Cook dinner’s electronic mail to The Occasions on Tuesday.
Town had withheld Cook dinner’s electronic mail from its response to a separate data request filed by an unknown social gathering in October. Virtually 180 of Cook dinner’s emails have been posted on the town’s data portal on Dec. 9, however the one which expressed his issues in regards to the report was lacking. That electronic mail was solely posted on the portal Tuesday, after The Occasions requested about it.
The LAFD didn’t reply to a Occasions question about why the e-mail was not launched with Cook dinner’s different emails. Bass’s workplace additionally didn’t reply to a question about Cook dinner’s issues and the truth that they have been withheld from the general public.
Gene Cameron, who lived within the Palisades for 50 years earlier than his residence burned down within the Jan. 7 fireplace, was disturbed by the LAFD’s revisions, which he mentioned amounted to a canopy up.
“I admire his bravery to face up towards these unprofessional immoral edits,” he mentioned of Cook dinner, including that the purpose of the report is to not assign blame, however to forestall future errors. “It’s simply to determine a algorithm, procedures and tips in order that this doesn’t occur once more.”
Metropolis Councilmember Traci Park, whose district consists of the Palisades, mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that the town can’t repair systemic failures or rebuild public belief with out full transparency.
“I’ve mentioned from the start that LAFD shouldn’t be investigating itself. After a catastrophe of this magnitude, the general public deserves a full, unfiltered accounting of what went fallacious and why — and my unbiased after-action report will present precisely that,” she mentioned, referring to a report she requested that the Metropolis Council accredited and funded earlier this 12 months, although it hasn’t been accomplished.
Genethia Hudley Hayes, president of the Board of Hearth Commissioners, didn’t instantly reply Tuesday to a request for remark. She beforehand instructed The Occasions that she heard rumors that the writer of the report was sad, however that she didn’t look into the matter.
A July electronic mail thread reviewed by The Occasions exhibits concern over how the after-action report can be obtained, with the LAFD forming a “disaster administration workgroup.”
“The first aim of this workgroup is to collaboratively handle communications for any vital public relations concern that will come up. The quick and most urgent disaster is the Palisades After Motion Report,” LAFD Asst. Chief Kairi Brown wrote in an electronic mail to eight different folks.
“With important curiosity from media, politicians, and the neighborhood, it’s essential that we current a unified response to anticipated questions and issues,” Brown wrote. “By doing so, we will guarantee our messaging is evident and constant, permitting us to create our personal narrative fairly than reactive responses.”
Cook dinner was not included on that electronic mail thread. It’s unclear how a lot of a job, if any, that group had on the revisions.
The after-action report has been extensively criticized for failing to look at a New 12 months’s Day fireplace that later reignited into the Palisades fireplace. Bass has ordered the LAFD to fee an unbiased investigation into its missteps in placing out the sooner fireplace.
One edit to the after-action report concerned language stating that the choice to not absolutely employees up and pre-deploy all out there crews and engines forward of the intense wind forecast “didn’t align” with the division’s coverage and procedures throughout pink flag days.
The ultimate report didn’t embody that language, saying as an alternative that the variety of engine firms rolled out forward of the hearth “went above and past the usual LAFD pre-deployment matrix.”
A bit on “failures” was renamed “main challenges,” and an merchandise saying that crews and leaders had violated nationwide tips on the way to keep away from firefighter deaths and accidents was scratched.
One other passage that was deleted mentioned that some crews waited greater than an hour for an project the day of the hearth.
Two drafts include notes typed within the margins with options that appeared meant to melt the report’s impact and make the Hearth Division look good. One be aware proposed changing the picture on the quilt web page — which confirmed palm bushes on fireplace towards an orange sky — with a “optimistic” one, reminiscent of “firefighters on the frontline.” The ultimate report’s cowl shows the LAFD seal.
The ultimate model listed solely 42 gadgets within the part on suggestions and classes realized, whereas the primary model reviewed by The Occasions listed 74.
