Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Releases Station Fire Review and Recommendations

Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman has released a review of the Station Fire, which raged from August to October 2009. The fire, which was located mostly in the Angeles National Forest, burned more than 160,000 acres and was one of largest in the area’s history, killed two Los Angeles County firefighters, Captain Ted Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo Quinones, and destroyed numerous properties.

The Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Department’s (LACoFD) review of the incident contains an in-depth look at the firefighting response to the incident and contains recommendations for future wildfire incidents in the jurisdiction. Among these recommendations are that command offiers assisting LACoFD shall communicate status updates to superior officers in the command center; lobbying for brush clearance requirements for all structures in the forest; and updated interagency response plan and coordination on evacuation procedures for the area.

The report also contains observations on command decisions, the tragic LODDs, and lessons learned from the incident. It further goes on to make observations regarding county helicopter and airplane use in wildfire suppression, fire suppression policies, and the need for a paradigmn shift towads more aggressive and early suppression efforts in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s wildland fire suppression policy.

For more information on the report, contact Kristina Hajjar, Director of Communications for the LACoFD at khajjar@fire.lacounty.gov