The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved sweeping emergency response reforms Tuesday following an independent review of the catastrophic Eaton and Palisades fires that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures in January.
The board adopted all recommendations from the McChrystal Group's After-Action Report, which examined the county's evacuation policies and alert systems during the fires that scorched nearly 37,000 acres and became the most destructive in county history.
The motion, introduced by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey P. Horvath, directs county officials to provide a 60-day feasibility study on restructuring the Office of Emergency Management into a fully resourced department with greater autonomy and authority to coordinate countywide emergency responses.
"The Eaton and Palisades Fires revealed critical gaps that must be closed to protect our residents in the face of worsening wildfires," said Barger, the board chair. "By implementing these recommendations, we are strengthening coordination, improving communication, and building a more resilient County."
The McChrystal Group identified five critical areas requiring immediate improvement:
— Updating policies and county code to clarify decision-making responsibilities for issuing evacuation warnings and orders — Standardizing evacuation-specific training for all county departments and partner agencies
— Restructuring and increasing staffing for the Office of Emergency Management — Modernizing technology systems and integrating communications under a unified platform called LA-RICS — Launching robust public education campaigns to increase community preparedness
Supervisor Horvath emphasized the urgency of implementing changes, citing communities that suffered losses in Sunset Mesa, Malibu, Topanga and the Palisades.
"Change moves at the speed we choose—and when it comes to emergency preparedness, we are choosing urgency," Horvath said. "Restructuring the Office of Emergency Management into a fully resourced department is the first crucial step to implementing the After Action Report's recommendations."
The board also directed the county fire department, sheriff's department and Office of Emergency Management to provide joint progress reports every 60 to 90 days until all recommendations are implemented. Officials were instructed to explore funding sources, including reallocating existing resources, to ensure timely execution of improvements.
Board Chair Pro Tem Hilda Solis said the fires exposed weaknesses in emergency communications that undermined public trust.
"Unfortunately, during recent emergencies, many residents experienced confusion and frustration due to alerts that either arrived too late or were irrelevant to their area, and caused undue stress," Solis said in a statement. "Our responsibility now is to turn these lessons into concrete action."
County agencies have already begun implementing some reforms. The fire department integrated the FireGuard satellite program into its incident command platform and contracted for satellite-enabled hotspot tracking while developing an updated Computer Aided Dispatch system.
The sheriff's department launched the Citizen Evacuation Tracker for real-time monitoring of evacuation progress and is developing standardized evacuation training for all patrol stations.
The Office of Emergency Management began issuing evacuation warnings to zones adjacent to those under evacuation orders, giving residents more preparation time, and expanded staff training on the Genasys Alert system.
The January fires struck during unprecedented wind conditions, with some gusts exceeding 100 mph. The blazes primarily affected areas in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
Solis noted that while the most severe fires occurred in districts represented by other supervisors, the extreme weather conditions highlighted emergency preparedness needs countywide.
"As we continue to confront the growing impacts of climate change and increasingly unpredictable weather events, we must ensure that our County's emergency response system is equipped to assist all residents, no matter where they live," she said.
The reforms come as California faces an increasingly dangerous wildfire season, with climate change contributing to more frequent and intense blazes that threaten densely populated areas throughout Southern California.