Tipsheet

Reporter Drops a Bombshell About the Firefighter Response to the Los Angeles County Fires

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  January 15, 2025 2:00 AM

California Democrats and local officials need to understand that there’s this thing called social media. There’s a search engine called Google, and they will expose your lies. Yes, Big Tech has been involved in some grotesque censorship. Still, with wildfires and preparation, old clips have resurfaced that have scorched the latest narrative about how Los Angeles County was prepared, how the reservoirs were filled, and how the Santa Ana winds left first responders paralyzed to mother nature. Yeah, that dog won’t hunt.

The origins of the fire seem to be man-made. Was it the homeless? The latest fire erupted near a known homeless camp. It’s been a problem; these people usually start half of the fires LAFD extinguishes, though the media dare not say a word about it, right? The high winds bit is hilarious. These clowns want to sell that they’ve never seen such high winds. LA did in 2011. Yet, let’s get to the latest development: Michael Shellenberger has a bombshell story detailing the failure to mobilize fire crews, the byzantine bureaucracy that bogs down efficiency, and the abject failure of city and county officials to prepare for what is going to be a $100 billion disaster. Also, the Palisades blaze, which continues to burn uncontrollably, was allowed to burn for almost an hour before firefighters arrived (via Public):  

The LA Department of Water and Power had drained the city’s second-largest reservoir of water, which was right near the Palisades fire, and failed to notify the County or City Fire Department. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “extreme fire risk” on January 2, the NWS - Los Angeles held a briefing on January 3, and yet Mayor Bass flew to Ghana anyway. Newsom did not call out the National Guard until Friday and did not mobilize national and international help until the last few days. 

An aide to a former California governor told me, “Knowing the mayor’s office couldn’t adequately manage the situation, Newsom should have immediately traveled to LA to backstop the mayor’s office.” 

[…] 

…none of those failures justify the reactive nature of the response by state and city leaders to the fires, nor their own role in cutting firefighting budgets and their policies that attracted the homeless and allowed them to camp outside across the city. And they start half of all fires responded to by Los Angeles fire departments. 

And now, a 40-year veteran of one of the 29 fire departments in Los Angeles County has come forward to describe a shocking series of failures by state and city leaders to station fire trucks around the city before the fires started on January 7. 

“You have to mobilize fire departments before the fires start because we’re so spread out,” the firefighter whistleblower said, who asked for anonymity fearing retribution. “They had the long-term weather forecast already on New Year’s eve. You have areas where they should have pre-deployed rigs [fire trucks]. They should have had them there a day before the winds started so crews can scout the area, recognize safety zones, potential problem areas, and check water supply, and things of that nature. I am not sure that took place.”

[…] 

“The governor, mayor, and fire chiefs said they had been mobilizing starting in early January, but I am not sure where those units were staged or how may were called in,” the firefighter said. “They should have said, ‘There is a very high probability of a fire Tuesday or Wednesday due to the 60-80 mph winds coming in so be prepared. Winds will be howling. Every day there are fires in LA County, which start from vehicles, accidents, downed power lines, outdoor fires, arsonists or whatever. We know there’s going to be a fire somewhere at some point large or small.” 

The person said the city should have also required more clearing of bushes and debris. “What’s crazy is those canyons. You make people trim trees and brushes. Why not clear the canyons? Some areas have 50-foot-high trees and brush in there! That’s heavy fuel. If you don’t have those fuels, you won’t have those effects. Contract companies to start clearing the brush in the canyons and fields. They don’t do that.” 

[…] 

The cities in LA County have charters that say that they must provide police and fire services, and if the city can’t afford to do so, LA County will provide and charge the city. The high level of complexity requires that the LA County Fire Chief be proactive. “You have to deal with 29 different chiefs and training divisions and some have different breathing apparatuses, protocols, and guidelines. The rigs are set up differently.” 

Different hose sizes means that “we have to get special couplings to marry the hoses together.”

The person said that during the Eaton fire, a Fire Chief “ordered 50 strike teams, which is 250 engines. That takes hours. You have to call everyone and beg to get rigs. And then you have to meet somewhere because one engine is coming from Manhattan Beach, for example, and two are coming from Burbank. They have to link up somewhere , usually a station or a freeway on a ramp, for example. They will do that to get on the same page of what the game plan is, the communications channel being used , and develop an action plan. Only then do you drive up to the fires — through LA traffic to the fire. It could have taken 2 hours to get there. That isn’t quick enough. And then you have people evacuating, causing major traffic jams.” 

The state of the fire department was already dire before the wildfires. Shellenberger did well in capturing the hollowed-out vessel this responder group has become. No morale, no water, no plan to deploy these teams efficiently—no wonder why this turned into a total nightmare. It also doesn’t help that the LAFD had their budget cut, their memos scrubbed, and firefighters subjected to woke DEI training, which had nothing to do with fighting fires. Now, the mayor, the LAFD chief, and Gov. Gavin Newsom are taking shots at one another, trying to get ahead of the political reckoning that awaits them.

Also, stop talking about global warming. No one cares, and it's not true.


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