Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies evacuated a resident in western Altadena just after 11:30 p.m. the night the Eaton fire broke out, according to logs of 911 calls obtained by The Times, raising new questions about why it took nearly four more hours for authorities to issue a widespread alert to the rest of the community. <\/p>\n
Records show that this early evacuation was done up the chain of command, meaning officials dealing with the emergency should have been aware of it. This happened after firefighters reported an active fire in the same area.<\/p>\n
The logs add to growing evidence that both firefighters and sheriff’s personnel on the ground during the first hours of the fire knew it was threatening the Altadena neighborhood west of Lake Avenue long before the evacuation order was issued at 3:25 a.m.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, all but one of the 19 people who died in the Eaton fire were found in West Altadena, where the fire caused the most damage. There were no evacuation warnings in the area before the evacuation was ordered. <\/p>\n
The new 911 records come a week after the LA County Fire Department released a report that concluded there were “no failures” or delays in evacuations. County officials launched the investigation to provide new details from the chaotic first hours of the firefight, which exposed incident commanders’ lack of situational awareness. <\/p>\n
The Times first reported that several Altadena residents were evacuated in dangerous conditions without warning or ground assistance in January 2025. Some people have blamed the late alert for the deaths of their loved ones. Earlier this year, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta launched a civil rights investigation into the fire’s preparedness and response, focusing on potential disparities in the historically black West Altadena. It is unclear when this will be completed.<\/p>\n
A county report published last week by a third-party consultant said Eaton fire commanders were operating without a complete picture of the situation, especially after the plane landed, nightfall and smoke and winds rising, forcing officials to make their decisions based on what limited information they had from the ground. The report found that incident commanders were not aware of the increased threat in western Altadena until after 2 a.m.<\/p>\n
This evacuation before midnight highlights concerns about missed opportunities to issue timely evacuation alerts for West Altadena and raises new questions about the Sheriff’s Department’s role in notifying incident commanders. <\/p>\n
‘Shocking’ delay<\/h2>\n
University of Utah professor Thomas Cova said there was a “shocking amount of time” between when incident commanders should have realized the fire was threatening West Altadena and when the official warning was issued. Studies wildfire evacuation analysis. <\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cHow can they not be in the loop?\u201d Kova informed the commanders about the fire incident. “How did they not know these 911 calls were coming in? …It’s their job, to monitor their radio or whatever they have.”<\/p>\n According to records, at 11:38 p.m., L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a fire-related 911 call from a home on Glenrose Avenue near Loma Alta Drive \u2014 in West Altadena \u2014 where a woman had requested help evacuating. <\/p>\n
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