Bass' office denies altering Palisades Fire after-action report

Bass ordered changes to Palisades Fire after-action report: LA Times

Mayor Karen Bass' office is denying the Los Angeles Times' bombshell report that Bass directed the "watering down" of an after-action report that detailed alleged failings of the LAFD during last year's deadly Palisades Fire. 

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Karen Bass' office denied reports that said she directed the watering down of an after-action report that detailed alleged failings of the Los Angeles Fire Department during last year's deadly Palisades Fire.

The Los Angeles Times, quoting "two sources with knowledge of Bass' office," reported Wednesday that after receiving an early draft of the after-action report, the mayor told then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva that the report could result in legal liabilities for those failures. 

The Times reported that Bass wanted key findings about LAFD’s actions removed or softened before the report was made public. It's unclear whether Villanueva, other LAFD officials, or anyone in the mayor's office, made "line-by-line edits" at Bass' specific instructions or if they imposed changes after receiving a general direction from the mayor.

What they're saying:

Bass had previously denied she was involved in softening the report.

Responding to the Times story, Bass' office said the mayor and her staff made no changes to the draft.

The mayor's full statement said, "Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget. She and her staff made no changes to the drafts. The Mayor has been clear about her concerns regarding pre-deployment and the LAFD’s response to the fire, which is why there is new leadership at LAFD and why she called for an independent review of the Lachman Fire mop-up. There is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire – full stop. She has said this for months. This is muckraking journalism at its lowest form. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false."

A spokeswoman for Bass' office had previously said that the report was written and edited by the fire department. 

The other side:

Rick Caruso blasted Bass on X saying, "Today's @latimes report is an absolute outrage. Karen Bass actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history. When it comes to life safety matters, this is no longer a matter of making poor judgement, apologizing and moving forward. This is a complete loss of public trust and an intentional act of covering up the actions that led to people dying. Everyone should read this article and consider what action is warranted. She has completely failed us."

Dig deeper:

In January, Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who replaced Villanueva in November, acknowledged the after-action report was edited to reduce criticism of LAFD's leadership.

Moore previously said he ordered a separate independent investigation into the Lachman Fire -- a holdover fire that later erupted into the Palisades Fire -- to closely examine the department's decisions and procedures and determine where improvements are needed.

He formally asked the Fire Safety Research Institute to include the Lachman Fire as part of its broader analysis of January's fires. The institute conducted an independent analysis of the L.A. fires, as ordered by state leaders.

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The Times first reported the after-action report was altered after reviewing seven drafts before the final report was issued on Oct. 8, 2025.

Among the changes, according to The Times:

• LAFD officials removed language saying that the decision not to fully staff and pre-deploy all available crews and engines ahead of the historically strong winds that were forecast for the day of the fire  "did not align" with the department's procedures during red flag days, and said instead that the number of engine companies put in place "went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix."
• A section on "failures" was renamed "primary challenges."
• An item saying that personnel violated national guidelines on how to avoid firefighter deaths and injuries was scratched.
• A passage alleging that some crews waited more than an hour for an assignment on the day of the fire was removed.
• An early passage containing the following language was removed: "If the Department had adequately augmented all available resources as done in years past in preparation for the weather event, the Department would have been required to recall members for all available positions unfilled by voluntary overtime, which would have allowed for all remaining resources to be staffed and available for augmentation, pre-deployment, and pre-positioning." The final report said the LAFD "balanced fiscal responsibility with proper preparation for predicted weather and fire behavior by following the LAFD predeployment matrix."