Concerns over a small brush fire that reignited days later into the mammoth Palisades fire – the most destructive in Los Angeles history – have grown in recent weeks amid reports that firefighters were ordered to leave the original site of the smaller blaze despite their concerns the ground was still smoldering.

Now, questions remain about how leaders at the Los Angeles fire department responded to a fire that leveled entire communities, and who within the agency knew about concerns the fire could still pose a threat. A former LA city councilor says the aftermath and recovery effort should serve as a Pearl Harbor moment for the city, which should never again be in a position with flames encroaching on all sides.

The LA Times has published a series of bombshell revelations about the initial response to that first blaze, the Lachman fire, in recent weeks, citing text messages revealing that firefighters spoke with their battalion chief shortly after it broke out in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The small fire – just 8 acres – was largely extinguished hours later.

But, the Times reports, firefighters were told to roll up their hoses and leave a day later: a move that was made despite reporting to their superior that it was a “bad idea” to leave the burn scar because of visible smoldering – some rocks and tree stumps were still hot to the touch.

The LAFD previously maintained the Lachman fire was “dead out” before firefighters moved on, saying they had “cold-trailed” it several times, feeling with their hands for any hotspots to detect any remaining fire. Any new blaze that arose from the ashes would “be a phenomenon”, an assistant fire chief said at the time.

The Palisades fire ignited five days later. Flames whipped by 100mph winds ravaged large parts of the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga, ultimately killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,800 structures. A man has been arrested and charged with maliciously igniting the Lachman fire. He faces three federal arson charges and has pleaded not guilty.

New details on the concerns about the response to the initial Lachman blaze have since been reported by the LA Times, who reported earlier this month that the department kept the details around the battalion chief’s order to pack up a secret. At least one official learned of the concerns by June.

Those details are not included in a 70-page after-action report on the Palisades fire that was released in early October. That report only notes that the fire “began in the Santa Monica Mountains below the burn scar of the previous Lachman fire” and “ultimately ravaged the areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu, remaining uncontained until 31 January 2025”.

“This deadly fire, fueled by category 1 hurricane winds, was among a series of 11 wind-driven fires that occurred over the next three weeks, devastating the southern California region,” the report reads.

Mayor calls for investigation

The growing confusion surrounding the timeline and the LAFD’s response prompted Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass to order an investigation into the Lachman fire last month. Bass asked the department’s interim chief, Ronnie Villanueva, to investigate the origins of the blaze, writing to say the accounts were “tremendously alarming” last month.

“Make no mistake: our city’s firefighters are heroes every day. We owe it to them and the people of Los Angeles to make sure that their fire department is led, organized and ready for whatever emergencies may arise,” Bass said in a 31 October letter.

But while many investigations have looked into the origin of the January wildfires, Bass said a full account of the response before and after the Palisades fire would help the department adapt and reform.

“A full understanding of the Lachman fire response is essential to an accurate accounting of what occurred during the January wildfires,” Bass wrote. “This will continue to guide our ongoing reforms, which include enhancing pre-deployment protocols, strengthening interagency coordination, upgrading communications technology and expanding training at all staff levels.”

Firefighters work near a church destroyed in the Palisades fire. Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

Bass, who is up for reelection next year, recently appointed Jamie Moore as the permanent chief to lead the fire department. Her office said this week Moore would spearhead that investigation, and Moore said Wednesday he would support a full, independent probe into the handling of the Lachman fire.

“Recent media attention surrounding the January wildfires has created understandable mistrust, and it must be addressed directly,” Moore, whose position must still be approved by the LA city council, told a meeting of the body’s public safety committee this week. “I fully support Mayor Bass’s request for an independent investigation into the Los Angeles fire department’s response to the Lachman fire, recognizing that transparency and accountability are vital to ensure that we learn from every incident.”

He said he was committed to a “fair and thorough process” that helps “restore confidence in our fire department.”

“Our members were not listened to and were not heard,” Moore said. “That is why I am supporting Mayor Bass’s request for an independent investigation into the Lachman fire, because I want to get to the bottom of it.”

Bass’s office and the Los Angeles fire department did not reply to requests for comment.

‘Pearl Harbor’ of fires warrants independent inquiry, critics say

Zev Yaroslavsky, who spent 20 years on the LA city council and 20 years as a member of the county board of supervisors, said the events surrounding the Palisades fire and the reporting afterwards were “still crying out for that kind of independent analysis, not only to get the truth, but also to inspire confidence in the people of the county, the city, all of us”.

“You’ve got to get an independent panel of people who do not have any connection to the fire departments of this region … a small group of people who take a look at what went right, and what went wrong,” he told the Guardian. “Something always goes wrong in a fire.”

Yaroslavsky, who is now the director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA’s school of public affairs, went on: “Every incident has a post-incident analysis, and something on this scale, it has to be looked at in a very different way. This is kind of like 9/11, it’s like Pearl Harbor for the fire services.”

Even recent events with emergency warning systems pointed to a need for the LAFD to better address how it could improve in the wake of the Palisades fire, Yaroslavsky said. This week, he said he got an alert on his iPhone meant to be a test of emergency systems for South Pasadena, but instead the message was sent to everyone in LA county, about 10 million people.

“Something is haywire in the communications systems. I mean, there are a lot of things that need to be looked at, and should have been looked at long before now,” he said.

Bass’ office has stressed that Los Angeles has taken many steps to implement new tools and processes to improve preparedness and response to fires, including leadership changes, improved training and better preparation before a fire starts.

Yaroslavsky said the city has two highly trained fire departments in the LAFD and the LA county fire department, and said firefighters did a heroic job when the Palisades fire broke out.

“These are two of the best fire departments in the world, and they were ambushed by a windstorm that was unprecedented in our history,” he said.

But, he added, many questions remain and Bass and the LAFD need to provide answers as communities continue to rebuild.

“I think the morale has been shaken to the core in Altadena and the Palisades,” Yaroslavsky said, also referencing the destructive Eaton fire at the same time. “I think a legitimate question is what did everybody know, and when did they know it.

“There’s no question that the mayor has suffered politically for this. She should be judged not by what she did on day one, but what she was going to do in the subsequent days, and the rebuilding and getting to the bottom of this. And that’s still a work in progress for her.”