Records obtained by KTLA show that the city of Los Angeles had several days of intense planning before January’s wildfires exploded, and it was working with the National Weather Service based on its dire warnings. City emergency officials met with the now-ousted LAFD chief and had a pre-deployment plan.
Two hundred pages of Google Chats show how the city’s emergency officials were reacting in real time before the fires, and then as the fires broke out, watching the fires unfold on local news and reacting to crisis after crisis.
At 10:45 a.m. on Jan. 7, the first chat read, “New fire in Palisades,” and the response was, “Yes, this one and it’s taking off.” Within four minutes, the city activated Level 2 emergency status, and within another 45 minutes, evacuations were underway.
The chaos of that day—reflected in the volley of chats back and forth during the fires show emergency officials leaning heavily on broadcast news and even apps to gather information as they make decisions.
The messages show an organization working on logistics as an unprecedented situation unfolded, with command posts shifting and meetings being scheduled.
And emergency officials watched local news outlets, including KTLA, and reacted to our reporting in real-time.
In the middle of the chaos, questions arose about the information coming in.
jon.brown January 7, 2025 at 4:53:34 PM GMT-8 Ops, need to check in on the LADWP outages. We are hearing very different numbers from their GM on the Mayors cabinet call
darryl.pedig January 7, 2025 at 4:55:19 PM GMT-8 I can hear transformers popping
jon.brown January 7, 2025 at 4:58:50 PM GMT-8 They are talking tens of thousands of outages versus the hundreds in the ops section notes
At 5:27 p.m., a signed emergency declaration for the city of Los Angeles prompted chats back and forth about information and misinformation as things changed quickly.
joseph.riser January 7, 2025 at 6:08:44 PM GMT-8 BTW, there may be some blowback about the “large animal shelter” info. At one point LAFD Alert put out that it was now at Pierce College (maybe old template text, not corrected, or ??). Apparently it’s NOT, and is still at LA Equestrian, but that bad info was picked up and shared by other agencies, including CHP in their socials
At 6:12 p.m., in an unprecedented move, the LAFD reached out to local media outlets, asking them to get all firefighters back on duty.
jazmine.cureno January 7, 2025 at 6:12:10 PM GMT-8 LAFD is requesting a “total Recall” meaning asking all who are off duty is being requested to be on duty
The evacuations expand.
jazmine.cureno January 7, 2025 at 6:51:15 PM GMT-8 LAFD is expanding Evacuation Area, adding all of Madeville Canyon to Santa Monica
jillian.de.vela January 7, 2025 at 7:50:52 PM GMT-8 We are activating to Level 1 tomorrow
jon.brown January 7, 2025 at 9:43:29 PM GMT-8 Made it home but had to dodge a ladder on the 710 and a ton of debris. It’s definitely dangerous out there.
diane.rogart January 7, 2025 at 9:45:45 PM GMT-8 Power just went out in granada hills. Be safe everyone.
One of the team members chatted “unprecedented,” and then a response many of us can relate to: “tired of living through unprecedented times.” These unprecedented times would lead the city to go to its highest alert level.
But the news didn’t stop. The chat turned to Sylmar and the new fire, the Hurst fire, and the Eaton fire, which we now know would be devastating and deadly.
The chat picks up at 3:22 a.m. Throughout the morning, multiple fires broke out on multiple fronts.
diane.rogart January 8, 2025 at 6:20:42 AM GMT-8 Multiple Ring reports of a new fire near San Fernando blvd and balboa.. videos posted
jennifer.lazo January 8, 2025 at 6:22:02 AM GMT-8 That’s the Hurst Fire
Communications were a concern as command posts were moved on PCH.
richard.pope January 8, 2025 at 8:12:03 AM GMT-8 Be advised new CP at Zuma Beach may not have great cell signal. I had no signal for over an hour and just got it back
As we now know, President Biden was in town, and while firefighting aircraft could fly when safe to do so, protocol was changed with presidential flight restrictions. The LAFD needed to chat with the Secret Service when they flew.
The wind eventually eased up, revealing the scope of the devastation.
But the news kept coming and coming. Now, a fire in the Hollywood Hills.
jazmine.cureno January 8, 2025 at 6:13:48 PM GMT-8
Sunset Fire Evacuation WEA sent
And into Saturday morning.
joseph.riser January 9, 2025 at 8:12:30 AM GMT-8 Palisades Fire has “crossed over Sullivan Ridge” — making a run into Mandeville Canyon
The chats include a frenzied exchange over some of the county alerts, which were erroneous.
stephanie. January 9, 2025 at 3:57:43 PM GMT-8 Just got a wea on both phones
stephanie.kim January 9, 2025 at 3:57:52 PM GMT-8 Not near any fire
eunique.day January 9, 2025 at 3:58:47 PM GMT-8 I got it and I’m in Long Beach, watch duty doesn’t show any fires near me…
nia.thompson January 9, 2025 at 3:59:14 PM GMT-8 I got it also.
jennifer.lazo January 9, 2025 at 3:59:24 PM GMT-8 It was sent to the full County
stephanie.kim January 9, 2025 at 4:02:30 PM GMT-8 They need to send an updated one to disregard
carmina.de.santiago January 9, 2025 at 4:02:59 PM GMT-8 My family in the valley/ Santa Clarita valley got it too
stephanie.kim January 9, 2025 at 4:03:01 PM GMT-8 Everyone is freaking out in my complex
raffi.senekeremian January 9, 2025 at 4:05:56 PM GMT-8 That was a nice wake up call. Thanks county
The texts go on for pages, responding to the crisis, moving from active firefighting to response and recovery, and preparation for another wind event. In the middle of it, a brief moment to express thanks to the team:
carol.parks January 9, 2025 at 8:52:13 AM GMT-8 Thank you for your continued support and diligence with this EOC activation. I was so happy to see some of you yesterday. My apologies for not getting to speak to everyone, but I saw you in action. We are on EOC activation – Day III, and I’m sure many are sleep-deprived and some have been either directly or indirectly impacted by the fires. If you have circumstances or losses that you are dealing with, be sure to inform your supervisor and me. We care and are concerned. For everyone – please remember self-care and wellness. I am in the process of requesting additional staff support for the upcoming days.
