Reports about failures in response to the January LA fires and a 2018 fire have striking similarities
Imperfect Paradise
LAist Studios
4.5 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 3 October 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A new report details the Eaton and Palisades fires, including failures in the emergency response. But this report bears striking similarities with another -- which chronicled the response to the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California. LAist science reporter Jacob Margolis discusses the reports and what they mean for L.A. County moving forward.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for LAIST comes from CarPros Kia and the new 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid, |
| 0:06.3 | redesigned with striking new looks, advanced driver assistance features, and third row seating. |
| 0:11.7 | You can learn more at CarPros Kia in Glendale, Huntington Beach, and Moreno Valley. |
| 0:16.7 | LAISD is supported by Elephant Energy. |
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| 0:35.2 | Hey, this is in Perfect Paradise. |
| 0:41.3 | I'm Antonia Selejillo. It's been nine months since the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires swept through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. Finally, we're getting |
| 0:47.8 | some deep insight into what went wrong. That clarity is coming thanks to an after-action report |
| 0:53.7 | released last week. |
| 0:55.6 | Particularly with elected officials, when they say we couldn't have seen this coming and this |
| 0:59.3 | was unimaginable, people need to push back aggressively against that level of bullshit. |
| 1:05.9 | Today, on Imperfect Paradise, we're speaking with LAS science reporter Jacob Margolis about that report, |
| 1:11.9 | which examined alerts and evacuations that authority sent out during the January fires. |
| 1:17.7 | Jacob is going to break down that report and what went wrong and also talk about the alarming |
| 1:22.6 | similarities he saw in an after-action report released six years ago after the 2018 Woolsey Fire. |
| 1:30.6 | Jacob, thanks so much for being on Imperfect Paradise. |
| 1:33.5 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:34.7 | So, okay, before we get into this report, I think it's important to note that the fire authorities in |
| 1:39.3 | Southern California are some of the largest and most well-resourced agencies around the world. |
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