New questions are being raised about how Los Angeles fire crews were deployed at the start of the Palisades Fire.
The Los Angeles Times reported that thousands of extra firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines were available for deployment as winds got stronger in the Palisades area early last week, but that officials decided against ordering those crews to stay on duty for a second shift.
The outlet spoke with experts and former chiefs who argued that a more proactive approach could have helped.
LAFD officials, such as Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, defended the decision to the L.A. Times, citing a lack of staff and budget cuts.
“The plan that they put together, I stand behind, because we have to manage everybody in the city,” she told the outlet.
Crowley confirmed to KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that on the morning of Jan. 7, the department had 19 engines pre-deployed and prepositioned around the city of Los Angeles in anticipation of that life-threatening windstorm that had been forecast.
When Fiegener asked if it was factual that a decision was made to not call to duty a thousand available and pre-deploy a dozen water-carrying fire engines, Crowley responded “No.”
“The 42 engines that they're talking about is staffed on an everyday basis,” She said. “We pre-deployed the resources and we actually added additional resources knowing that the risk was higher and on top of that we have that capability to surge. We already have the personnel who's running 911 calls and we have that capability to utilize those 42 engines in an immediate need and that's what happened. That's my statement on that.”
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During the press conference, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was asked about the L.A. Times report, but she deferred to Crowley but added that the "buck stops with her."
The Palisades Fire started at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7. As of Wednesday morning, the fire burned 23,713 acres and is 19% contained.
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