Many West Altadena residents find it difficult to get over the sense that they were twice harmed by the January blaze that engulfed their community.
In addition to the fact that the fire destroyed large portions of their communities, evacuation orders were issued hours after smoke and flames threatened their community, forcing hundreds of people to leave in hazardous conditions. Many people think that all but one of the 18 fatalities from the Eaton fire occurred in West Altadena as a result of the delayed alerts.
Outrage was directed at Los Angeles County officials, who were responsible for issuing evacuation orders, and an independent investigation into what went wrong was launched when The Times revealed the delay in January.
No one has yet to sue the county for the gap, despite the community’s ongoing ire and irritation.
Nearly a dozen locals told The Times that they had considered suing the county for its delayed evacuation alerts at one point, but as the six-month deadline to do so drew near, more and more people gave up on the idea.
After speaking with attorneys, a number of them concluded they couldn’t risk undermining any deal with Southern California Edison, which hundreds of locals have already sued, claiming the utility caused the disaster and should be held accountable for damages ranging from $24 billion to $45 billion.
A judicial battle can become unwinnable due to legal obstacles, according to some. Even while they supported the endeavor, many, like Heather Morrow, realized they just did not have the time or resources to continue.
After a few weeks of deliberation, Morrow decided she couldn’t commit that much time to another taxing endeavor, on top of the intricate rebuilding process and an art show she’s organizing that honors Altadena’s humanity. Morrow had intended to file a lawsuit against the county in the hopes that an attorney would eventually take up the cause.
I still want answers. 55-year-old Morrow stated. I simply concluded that I don’t have the time to put in the effort. I simply made the decision to shift my focus more toward something constructive.
Some people are in an uncomfortable state of uncertainty as a result of the choice. They worry that without openness and guarantees that errors won’t be made again, they won’t be able to rebuild or move on. In order to cope with their pain or get ready for the future, some people merely want answers from Los Angeles County officials regarding why or how their neighborhood was abandoned.
This Monday, county authorities affirmed that the county had not been sued in connection with the Eaton fire. Whether any accusations had been made as a prelude to a lawsuit was not immediately apparent.
Without the weight of a court action, Morrow expressed concern that locals could never comprehend what went wrong on the night of the Eaton fire.
“I’m not sure if there will be a response,” Morrow added. I’m hoping they’ll arrive and realize they need to inform the community about what transpired. There is no lesson to be gained if the truth remains hidden.
Regarding the delayed evacuation alerts in west Altadena on January 7 and 8, Los Angeles County officials have repeatedly refused to provide information or respond to inquiries, citing an ongoing, independent investigation into the evacuation procedure by disaster management firm McCrystal Group.
The county’s Coordinated Joint Information Center said in a statement this week that people should be given an explanation for the evacuations that took place in West Altadena. According to the statement, county officials did not have a timeframe for when that would occur. Officials stated that they would not speculate on the results of the independent investigation or what would be covered in the upcoming report from McChrystal Group, which is expected to be released in late July.
The company’s most recent report had no important information other than the investigation’s current state. The Times questioned McChrystal Group over its upcoming study, but the group did not reply.
California
Officials have failed to provide an explanation for the considerable delays in evacuation alerts, which occurred nearly five months after the catastrophic Eaton fire ravaged Altadena.
It wasn’t until almost 3:30 a.m. on January 8, almost nine hours after the Eaton fire started, and several hours after smoke and flames started to threaten the region, that residents west of North Lake Avenue, the town’s east-west boundary, received an electronic evacuation order. It wasn’t until about six in the morning that several neighborhoods in southwest Altadena were asked to evacuate.According to a Times review, the first evacuation alert was sent out at approximately 6:40 p.m. on January 7, to residents east of North Lake, nearer the fire’s source.
Because west Altadena was formerly a Black homeownership hotspot and still has a far more varied population than the neighborhoods east of North Lake, the discrepancy was especially alarming.
It seemed like a clear case for a lawsuit to many. Many homeowners complained that there were no emergency personnel there when they ultimately had to evacuate, in addition to the fact that their electronic evacuation alerts were sent out hours after the region had become unsafe.
“I heard no fire engines,” Morrow remarked. To evacuate, they may have performed a megaphone act in the streets. There are alternative methods of informing individuals if the system is malfunctioning. Why there was no notice baffles me.
However, the more the coalition of West Altadenans investigated the possibility of filing a case against their local government, the more difficult it appeared to be.
No lawyer agreed to take on their lawsuit, and a number of attorneys cautioned the locals that if Edison tries to shift responsibility to the county, the case might split compensation.
According to experts, it is far more difficult to sue a government agency than a private business. Additionally, it doesn’t seem like there has ever been a case in California that successfully established culpability for failed or delayed evacuation alerts.
California
Numerous 911 call logs show that police knew the Eaton fire was expanding in west Altadena well before the evacuation order was issued.
According to Neama Rahmani, president of the Los Angeles law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, which is representing Edison in Eaton fire cases, the most obvious obstacle would be circumventing the broad immunity that California government agencies enjoy from neglecting to issue evacuation or fire safety warnings.
According to Rahmani, they are completely exempt from accountability for failing to offer fire protection or for providing inadequate fire protection or firefighting services. These scenarios are quite challenging.
According to Rahmani, any lawyer who accepted such a case would be giving locals false hope because he anticipates that the majority of judges would reject it.
Additionally, David Levine, a law professor at UC San Francisco, stated that it would be difficult to directly link harm or damages to the county’s failure to issue evacuation alerts.
Levine stated that it would be extremely difficult to distinguish between the kind of damage that may be attributed to the officials of Los Angeles County.
Rahmani and Levine stated that they believed the situation was more appropriate for the public domain, which includes lobbying the county’s Board of Supervisors and reaching out to political authorities, despite the difficulties of such a case.
According to Levine, the remedies are found in the political sphere rather than the legal one. Since there are so many obstacles in this case, accountability is definitely a far better course of action than litigation if you’re truly interested in prevention in the future.
California
Residents of Altadena, which would sustain the worst damage from the Eaton fire, also encountered the greatest difficulties with evacuation notifications. Did the community’s government structure put it at a disadvantage during the L.A. firestorm?
The county has stated that it is dedicated to taking lessons from Altadena’s events.
The county said in a statement that it will make every attempt to resolve any conclusions that are discovered [via] the several after-action reviews it is currently participating in and working with. These procedures are comprehensive, thoughtful, and meant to significantly alter the way we provide for our residents.
However, a lot of locals doubt that the McChrystal report will clarify exactly what went wrong or that county officials would ever take full responsibility for their errors.
After a long conversation with her lawyer, one woman who was adamant about suing the county for the unsuccessful evacuation alerts changed her mind at the last minute and decided she didn’t want to jeopardize her case against Edison.
The woman, who requested anonymity for fear she could be subpoenaed in a future lawsuit, said she wanted to hold government accountable. However, she ultimately stated that she had to make the tough decision: Do you want money or accountability? Do you wish to achieve financial stability? Or would you like to live in a county that has admitted its mistakes and taken responsibility for hurting you?
Mark Douglas was one of the first to point out the county’s shortcomings during the evacuation. He and his partner created the Altadena West of Lake Instagram page, where they continue to push for accountability and urge the county and local authorities to better safeguard and address Altadena’s needs. He said he wasn t against the idea of a lawsuit against the county and that he d hear out any lawyer if one took the case but he s decided to focus his time on mounting public pressure, raising awareness about all that went wrong.
Douglas, who lost his house in West Altadena to the fire, stated, “All we want is answers.” There was no coordinated effort to warn people, to knock on doors, to go up and down the street with sirens to me that is the bar for failure. … The entire town, particularly west Altadena, seems to have been abandoned to burn.
By concentrating on her photographic show that chronicles the aftermath of the Eaton fire, Morrow claimed to have found some new calm. The Artists & Makers Studios in San Gabriel will host the exhibition, titled Bearing Witness: Fragments of Humanity, on July 12.
There was humanity here and now there s just these fragments, Morrow said. However, we must keep moving forward. We can t live in that misery or the anger.
