Los Angeles Fire Department released Palisades fire after-action report edited to downplay leadership failures

On October 8, 2025, the Los Angeles Fire Department released the final version of its official after-action report on the January 7, 2025 Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, after editing multiple earlier drafts to remove or soften language describing failures of city and LAFD leadership. The Los Angeles Times obtained seven drafts of the report through a California Public Records Act request and compared them against the final version. Among the changes: a passage stating that the department's decision not to fully staff up and pre-deploy available crews ahead of the forecast winds "did not align" with LAFD policy on red-flag days was rewritten to say the pre-deployment "went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix"; a section titled "failures" was renamed "primary challenges"; and a passage noting crews waited more than an hour for an assignment on the day of the fire was deleted. The report was overseen by then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva.

Updates

2026-01-06 — New LAFD chief confirmed report was altered, wouldn't say who was responsible [2]

LAFD Chief Jaime Moore, who took over the department in November 2025, told the city's Board of Fire Commissioners that "it is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership" in the final report, and said the editing occurred before his appointment. Moore said he would not investigate who was responsible for the changes, calling it a forward-looking decision rather than one aimed at assigning blame.

2026-01-07 — Fire Commission president said mayor's office sought "refinements" [4]

Fire Commission president Genethia Hudley Hayes told the Los Angeles Times that then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva had told her Mayor Bass's office asked for "refinements" to the after-action report, though he did not specify what they were. Hudley Hayes said she had separately sought advice from a deputy city attorney about the report's drafting. A spokesperson for Bass's office said the mayor's office "did not demand changes to the drafts" and asked LAFD only to confirm the accuracy of items such as weather and budget.

2026-02-04 — LA Times reported Bass personally directed changes; mayor's office denied it [3]

The Los Angeles Times reported, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of Mayor Karen Bass's office, that Bass told then-interim Chief Villanueva the original draft could expose the city to legal liability and held the draft until changes were made. Bass's office issued a statement denying that the mayor or her staff altered the drafts, saying Bass had asked only that the report be accurate on issues such as weather and budget, and Bass separately denied directing any edits in on-the-record remarks. The dispute over who ordered the changes remained unresolved.

2026-02-20 — LA Times: LAFD drafted PR plan to shield Bass from criticism [5]

The Los Angeles Times reported that it had obtained a 13-page internal LAFD document, dated the day before the after-action report's release, outlining a media-strategy plan -- including hired public relations consultants and a request for closed-door briefings with the Fire Commission and City Council -- intended to "minimize tough Q&A" and shield Mayor Bass and other city leaders from "reputational harm." Bass senior adviser Yusef Robb called the report "false," saying LAFD, not the mayor's office, had hired the consultant.

2026-03 — Four of five LA Fire Commissioners resigned amid scrutiny [6]

Four of the five members of the Board of Fire Commissioners, the civilian body that oversees LAFD -- including board president Genethia Hudley Hayes -- resigned or announced their departure amid continuing scrutiny of the department's Palisades fire response. Hudley Hayes said she did not know who had ordered the after-action report's edits and was "not particularly" interested in finding out; another departing commissioner said the board's role was largely "ceremonial."