After disasters, California mandates timely reports. Why it matters that more than 100 of them are years overdue
Imperfect Paradise
LAist Studios
4.5 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Catastrophic fires are becoming more and more common across California. After-action reports about the fires and other disasters can help officials prevent past mistakes. But the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, or CalOES, has failed to deliver legally mandated reports on time following disasters for years. LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis looks at why the agency is so far behind, whether anyone is being held accountable and the worrying consequences for all Californians when we can’t learn from past emergencies until years later.
You can read all of Jacob Margolis’ reporting at LAist.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:30.9 | Claim your rebates at elephantenergy.com. |
| 0:33.9 | This is in Perfect Paradise. |
| 0:35.5 | I'm your host, Nereida Moreno. |
| 0:40.2 | Last year's L.A. fires, considered among the most catastrophic fires in California's history, |
| 0:45.6 | have only intensified questions around emergency response and accountability. |
| 0:50.1 | It's the latest disaster to ignite serious criticism of preparedness, protocols, resources, |
| 0:56.4 | and officials. |
| 0:59.4 | The consequences are playing out across Southern California as Angelinos continue to recover |
| 1:04.2 | from the historic fires and rebuild homes and neighborhoods. |
| 1:08.0 | Nothing interests me except my wishes to rebuild my home. |
| 1:14.6 | I would say that we've survived our worst day, and it just gets better from there. |
| 1:20.6 | In many cases, answers to questions about disaster response come from after-action reports. |
| 1:25.6 | These reports establish official narratives about what happened, |
| 1:29.4 | what worked, and what went wrong, and they often contained recommendations that emergency responders |
| 1:34.5 | everywhere can learn from. These are findings. L.A. is science reporter Jacob Margolis |
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