On Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he is opening an investigation into whether race was a factor in the response to the Eaton Fire.
“This is, to my knowledge, the first of its kind investigation, with respect to a fire response, and civil rights laws, as it applies to that response here in California,” Bonta said.
He said anecdotal reports by the group Altadena for Accountability and media reports point out that door knocks and other calls to evacuate homeowners in West Altadena were delayed for hours. At least 19 people died in the fire.
Bonta said that he expects agencies, including L.A. County Fire, will cooperate voluntarily, adding that he has subpoena power if they don't.
In a statement to KNX News, Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she expects county departments to fully cooperate, adding that if there were gaps, they must acknowledge them.
The county has so far refused to release drafts of its report on emergency alerting during the fires. Last week, KNX News exclusively reported that those drafts were circulated for edits before the after-action report was made public, and that the final version did not answer the key questions about why alerts were hours late and who was responsible.
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