Dive Brief:
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The California Department of Justice is investigating whether race, age or disability discrimination hampered emergency response to the Eaton Fire, which killed at least 19 people in January 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday.
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“Of those 19 lives lost, 18 resided in the historically Black community of western Altadena and the majority were elderly and disabled,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said in a Thursday statement. Chu said “significant delays in emergency response and evacuation warnings in western Altadena” contributed to the “disproportionate loss of life and devastation.”
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“The people of West Altadena deserve answers to their questions and deserve institutions that are responsive to their concerns, and institutions they can trust,” Bonta said in announcing the investigation.
Dive Insight:
The UL Fire Safety Research Institute published a timeline report on the Los Angeles-area wildfires in November. The next day, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger issued a statement strongly supporting an independent investigation into the LA County Fire Department’s evacuation orders for West Altadena.
The report “has brought more data to light that warrants action,” she said in the statement. “I will continue championing transparency and accountability.”
According to the timeline report, the first 911 report of the Palisades Fire occurred at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2025; the Eaton Fire was first reported eight hours later, at 6:30 p.m. The report concludes that “the responding fire and emergency services in this area of Southern California were overwhelmed by the number of concurrent fires; the fires’ severity; the rapid, wind-driven fire spread through the built environment; and the resulting resource limitations.”
By 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, the Office of Emergency Management had sent evacuation warnings and orders to 46 zones in the Pasadena/Eaton Canyon area, according to a Los Angeles County review of alert notification systems and evacuation policies for the Eaton and Palisades Fires.
In the county review, LA County Fire Department staff said they suggested that Unified Command issue evacuation orders for the Altadena foothills a little before 12 a.m. on Jan. 8. Unified Command staff told investigators they do not recall this and reported the fire was not moving west at that time, the report states.
The county review notes initial 911 reports of fire west of Lake Avenue as early as 10:50 p.m.; the timeline report lists similar calls between 11 p.m. and midnight. The LA County Fire Department field staff first reported the fire moving west of Lake Avenue along the foothills at 2:18 a.m. on Jan. 8, while Unified Command sent “additional evacuation warnings and orders,” according to the report. But between 1:12 a.m. and 3 a.m., OEM did not receive direction from the fire or sheriff’s departments to send evacuation warnings or orders because officials believed all impacted or at-risk areas had already received an evacuation warning or order, the report states.
The county report notes social media posts saying the fire was moving east “fostered some complacency and reluctance in residents in Altadena and those west of Lake Avenue to evacuate and remain vigilant of potential risks.”
Bonta said in announcing the investigation that West Altadena residents “brought compelling evidence to the attention of my office” that evacuation warnings for the historically Black neighborhood “came many hours after these same warnings were sent to the rest of Altadena,” he said.
The California DOJ investigation is focused on potential civil rights violations, according to the attorney general’s office.
