This week, a significant revelation came to light as the head of the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) admitted that the analysis of the catastrophic Palisades Fire had been altered numerous times to shield the department’s leadership. This disclosure adds another layer of complexity to the response and handling of one of California’s most destructive fires, according to Cal Fire.
The Palisades Fire, which erupted in January 2025, ranks as the third most devastating wildfire in California’s long history of battling such natural disasters. During a recent meeting of the LA Fire Commission, LAFD Chief Jaime Moore acknowledged these alterations to the after-action report, as reported by KNBC.
Moore stated, “It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of the department leadership in that final report.” He assured the public and officials, “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as Fire Chief. And I can assure you that nothing of this sort will happen ever again while I am Fire Chief.”
These revelations come after KNBC reported in November that an anonymous letter was sent to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Traci Park. The letter claimed that the LAFD’s after-action report on the Palisades Fire was incomplete, largely because it was overseen by some of the same officials responsible for decisions during the fire.
Images from the fire capture the chaos and intensity of the situation, with LAFD Chief Jaime Moore recently seen at a Hollywood Walk of Fame Award ceremony, juxtaposed against striking scenes of firefighters battling the Palisades Fire amidst a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles in early January 2025.
In November, KNBC reported that an anonymous letter was sent to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Traci Park claiming that the LAFD’s after-action report on the Palisades Fire wasn’t thorough because its preparation was supervised by some of the same fire officials who made decisions during the blaze.
Moore also said that the department’s handling of the Lachman Fire — a small New Year’s Day 2025 brush fire that ignited in the Pacific Palisades, eventually leading to the Palisades Fire — wasn’t good enough, KNBC added.
“At the time, fire companies were instructed to pick up hose. The department genuinely believed the fire was fully extinguished. That was based on the information, condition and procedures in place at that moment,” Moore reportedly said.
A drone image shows damage from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2025. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Firefighters working the site of the Lachman Fire were ordered to leave the original burn scene despite tree stumps there being hot to the touch, according to a review of firefighter text messages by the Los Angeles Times last October.
The newspaper, citing the texts, reported that the firefighters’ battalion chief told them to pack up their hoses and depart the area on Jan. 2, one day after the Lachman Fire was declared contained. Then on Jan. 7, heavy winds reignited smoldering roots from the same area, sparking the Palisades Fire, which burned some 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.
Firefighters watch the flames from the Palisades Fire burning a home during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
“As a result, we’ve already changed our mop-up procedures, and we formally incorporated the use of the drone technology to enhance post suppression verification, situational awareness and detection of residual heat,” Moore also said Tuesday, according to WNBC.
