An independent after-action review of alerts and evacuations has been completed by McChrystal Group, providing a comprehensive picture of actions taken during the catastrophic January wildfires along with recommendations to help guide future Los Angeles County responses.

A full copy of the report is here.

Highlights of findings and recommendations are here.

The review—the first in a series of after-action assessments by the County, state and others—did not identify a “single point of failure” in the County’s efforts to warn and evacuate residents in the face of multiple simultaneous fires in areas across the County, fueled by hurricane force winds that grounded all firefighting aircraft, created power outages, and made nighttime aerial surveillance impossible on the critical night of January 7.

Rather, the review, commissioned by the Board of Supervisors, found that a series of weaknesses, including “outdated policies, inconsistent practices and communications vulnerabilities,” hampered the effectiveness of the County’s response.

“While frontline responders acted decisively and, in many cases, heroically, in the face of extraordinary conditions, the events underscored the need for clearer policies, stronger training, integrated tools, and improved public communication,” the report said.

The unprecedented wind-whipped January wildfires claimed 31 lives and destroyed 16,251 properties in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, along with parts of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Malibu.

— Content from LA County Media Release