BOARD ADVANCES COMPREHENSIVE AFTER ACTION REPORT FOR WILDFIRES

LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, the Board of Supervisors approved Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath and Chair Kathryn Barger’s motion to direct Los Angeles County to contract with an external expert to produce a Recovery and Repopulation After Action Report for the January 2025 wildfires. This comes as other AARs are advancing, including the AAR of the County’s emergency alert and notification system, as well as efforts led by the State.

With this motion, the Supervisors are closing any remaining gaps in the after action process to ensure the County can learn and improve its emergency management practices and coordination with regional agencies involved in wildfire response and recovery.

“All communities impacted by this year’s wildfires have important questions that deserve to be answered,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. “We must understand all that occurred and refine our emergency management practices to keep one another safe. Unfortunately, natural disasters are a part of our everyday life. It’s imperative that we apply every lesson learned and provide the accountability and transparency that our residents deserve.”

“Disaster readiness is rooted in learning from past emergencies and acting on those lessons,” said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger. “I’m proud to co-author this motion because it underscores the importance of improving our County’s emergency response systems to better serve our communities. By evaluating our past actions and strengthening our coordination efforts, we can ensure a more effective and timely response when disasters strike. Our residents deserve a system that is continually evolving to protect their safety and well-being.”

The Recovery and Repopulation After Action Report will look at the following: 

1. Multi-jurisdictional coordination across services and related communications to the public for both the Eaton and Palisades Fires.
2. Multi-jurisdictional/agency coordination and best practices on Disaster Recovery Centers, debris removal and assistance for people experiencing homelessness.
3. Strategic communications during the fires and their aftermath between first responders, law enforcement, and municipal governments and the communities impacted by the fire.
4. Implementation of a comprehensive donation intake system whereby public donations can be received and distributed to the appropriate entities as well as a system to direct potential volunteers.
5. Community repopulation notification and procedures, including any conflicts amongst cooperating agencies, the implementation of access passes for residents, and effective communication of road closure status.
6. Evaluation and expansion of existing evacuation shelter locations, shelter resources, and coordination with shelter partners, including the resources, access, and functional needs for seniors and the disability community during an emergency.
7. Evaluation of the role of DPH, including the impact of the declaration of a local health emergency on response and recovery efforts, including the deployment and coordination of personal protective equipment by DPH post fires.

The County has now directed two AARs. The State also has two AARs underway. The first being led by the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom that is focused on the preparedness and the immediate response to the incident by the state and local agencies in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Today’s motion calls for the following areas to be reviewed as part of the Governor’s AAR:

1. Pre-deployment strategies implemented during Particularly Dangerous Situation weather events;
2. The deployment and adequacy of firefighting resources as the fire progressed, including the availability of mutual aid resources;
3. Evacuation notification and procedures, including the implementation of public alert procedures and the use of mass notification systems; and
4. Impact of brush clearance policies and interface between property owners and public agencies.

A more expansive statewide AAR led by the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) will be conducted, which will more broadly cover the longer response and recovery time frame of the incident. Cal-OES is looking to local agencies to complete their AARs so that it may inform Cal-OES’ AAR.

For more information on Los Angeles County’s recovery from the 2025 wildfires, visit recovery.lacounty.gov.