FRANK RICCI And GABRIEL MANN: Los Angeles Burned With Only The Truth Extinguished |
Earlier this year the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) allegedly allowed a small, roughly eight-acre brush fire to rekindle and ultimately destroy an entire community leaving 12 citizens dead, and now this story has stunning new developments.
According to last week’s Los Angeles Times, serious problems exist with the LAFD’s Palisades after-action report. The report’s listed author Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook declined to endorse the final version and called it “highly unprofessional.” The Times obtained seven drafts and found edits that softened language, removed material findings, and obscured key failures.
In other words, the public didn’t just get a report—it got a redacted reality. After-action reviews are supposed to search for truth. This one reads like an effort to extinguish it. (RELATED: Los Angeles Fire Captain Reportedly Prioritized Saving Endangered Plants Over Stopping Fire)
Even the whitewashed final report concedes shocking failures. The department admitted it abandoned the heel of the fire and allowed it to slip around and devastate neighborhoods in the Highlands and Malibu. Tactical patrols were neglected, leaving entire communities to burn unattended.
Fixed-wing tankers weren’t ordered for nearly two hours. Resources weren’t augmented, with dozens of........