The city claims it’s prepared for emergencies but Monday’s second-alarm brush fire during extreme Red Flag conditions proves otherwise. The LA County Fire Department responded to a brush fire near Malibu Knolls Road at 3:17 a.m., yet the city’s Emergency Operations Center failed to wake up and inform area residents of the potential danger until 4:02 a.m. Can someone from the city please explain why it took 45 minutes to send out an emergency notification? If we have learned anything about wind-driven brush fires, it’s that they are very unpredictable and that every second counts. Thank you to our heroes at LACoFD for getting the situation under control but it’s time for the city to wake up and do its job. Lives depend on it.
Paul J. Morra