Rep. Chu Statement on the Los Angeles County Eaton Fire Evacuation Report

PASADENA, C.A. - Today, Los Angeles County officials released an independent after-action reviewof alerts and evacuations issued during January's devastating Eaton and Palisades Fires. The report, ordered by the County Board of Supervisors, investigates the severely delayed evacuation alerts for residents in the path of the Eaton Fire. Rep. Chu, who previously calledfor an independent investigation into these delayed evacuation orders, released the following statement:

"The Independent After-Action Report on the Eaton Fire evacuation delays is disturbing, raising more questions than it answers. For example, the report still does not explain why critical evacuation orders for west Altadena were delayed for hours, even after 911 calls confirmed fire in the area. Without alerts, many residents either went to bed or waited too long to make plans for someone to come help them if they were physically unable to leave on their own. Perhaps most troubling, the report only once mentions the nineteen lives lost in the Eaton Fire. We need a full accounting of how each of these deaths was allowed to happen, and what specific actions officials could have been taken the night of the fire to prevent their deaths.

"The report makes clear that serious changes are needed. I strongly urge the County to act on the recommendations outlined in this report, including clarifying who has authority over evacuation orders, strengthening staffing and training at the Office of Emergency Management, unifying agency communications into a single real-time platform, and ensuring alerts are immediate, automatic, and complete.

"I will be seeking more information from County leaders on how they will implement these reforms, and press for transparency into how west Altadena was left without timely warnings, who was responsible for those delays, and how these failures will be addressed. I will continue pushing for regular public updates and concrete timelines to ensure reforms are implemented before the next disaster strikes. I will work to ensure that Congress helps our local agencies have the staffing, technology and training they need to keep people safe, such as fully funding FEMA and emergency management grants, supporting wildfire prevention and mitigation programs and investing in modern communications systems so warnings are never delayed again."