Los Angeles County fire officials released their report on the Station Fire, and their recommendation of night-time and first-light aerial attacks goes against the Forest Service practice, which some critics say caused the growth of the fire in its earliest hours.
Here's a link to the county's report (thanks to reader Andrew Bingham) (a pdf document). The observations starting on page 35 are fruitful.
Also, Supervisor Antonovich's office has weighed in:
“The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s recommendations encouraging the Forest Service to allow night time and first-light air attacks would have prevented the Station fire’s rapid growth and mitigated its catastrophic toll,” said Antonovich in response to the Department’s report on the Station Fire.
The Supervisor also supported the County Fire report calling on the Forest Service to adopt tougher brush clearance requirements increasing the distance from 30 feet to 200 feet -- which is the County’s current requirement. He also agreed that a protective barrier will help prevent future damage to the communication infrastructure and the historical resources at Mt. Wilson.
In addition, Supervisor Antonovich suggested that in fire incidents occurring in National Forest that the County Fire Department should be the lead agency with support from the United State Forest Service.
