This letter was originally addressed to the LA County Fire Department.
Thanks so much for the follow up from Fire Chief Osby with a way for the public to comment and upload photos and videos through a Woosley Fire portal on fire.lacounty.gov.
My wife Jill and I appreciated the openness and leadership style of Chief Osby to evaluate what went well and badly with the Woolsey Fire responses and to find solutions. We also welcome the chief’s commitment to help Malibu and surrounding canyon communities rebuild.
Several issues standout:
1. The lack of awareness of the fire command leaders that significant numbers of firefighters were not engaging in putting out or preventing structure fires after the fire storm passed through residential communities. Waiting for orders and rushing away from burning homes and spot fires was reported too often. Homes burned on Saturday and Sunday.
Gathering eyewitness reports, videos and pictures can help determine the extent, locations and time of these ineffective responders. One recommendation from the 1993 Malibu fire was to have local firefighters assigned to out-of-area mutual aid fire fighters.
2. We need to get standby generators at pumping stations and tanks as soon as possible. I am concerned that waiting for state legislation may take too long. However, perhaps such legislation could help provide funding for the pumps and pipe upgrades to improve water flows in critical wildfire communities like Malibu.
3. The endorsement by Chief Osby for training and equipping local citizen fire brigades should help local responses to emergencies. Other ways could include encouraging and identifying resident water resources like above ground pools (that do not require permits and engineering), jacuzzis, tanks, etc.—some of which were not used in the Woosley Fire.
4. How can communications and coordination be improved between LA County, City of Los Angeles, Ventura County and CalFire to improve the command and on the ground firefighting? Why were there so much firefighting resources staging at Lake Sherwood Estates while the fire was barreling down Trancas and Zuma Canyons as shown in the attached citizen video and report?
Other sources for reporting and defining problems and finding solutions include the Malibu Magazine’s “After the Woolsey Fire” edition, the email RecoveryAdHoc@malibucity.org developed by Malibu City Council members Karen Farrer and Mikke Pierson, and the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation’s website and email Wildfire@LAEPF.org as well as TV and other Internet social media.
Again, thank you for Chief Osby’s commitment to evaluate the problems and to help bring their solutions.
Jeff and Jill Harris