The Orange County Fire Authority broke department protocols in its response to the Canyon 2 Fire by not deploying enough equipment after receiving early reports of flames, an independent investigation has determined.
The report bolsters concerns that a bungled response might have allowed a small blaze to grow into the county’s most destructive wildfire in at least a decade.
The investigative report, commissioned by the Fire Authority and released at the agency’s Thursday board meeting, cites two instances on Oct. 9, 2017, in which OCFA dispatchers downplayed 911 calls from people reporting flames and smoke. In both cases, fire officials failed to send appropriate resources. Those mistakes, the report found, delayed the agency’s full response by up to 70 minutes.