The battle against the devastating Woolsey Fire was hampered in Los Angeles County by politicians asking firefighters to check on certain homes, according to an agency that helped battle the blaze.
The conclusion comes from an after-action review by the Los Angeles Fire Department, which joined Los Angeles and Ventura county departments in battling the November blaze, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“A significant number of requests by political figures to check on specific addresses of homes to ensure their protection distracted from Department leadership to accomplish priority objectives,” the review said. The review did not provide details about the specific actions of politicians. Los Angeles Fire Assistant Chief Tim Ernst said in an interview that he did not know which politicians were involved or exactly how those requests affected the firefighting efforts.
He provided details from the report during a brush fire training for the department’s chief officers last week.