Southern California fire chiefs fault local leadership as US Senate probes Palisade fire

Emergency response leaders told U.S. senators this week that failures by local leadership, not firefighters on the ground, set the stage for the devastating Palisades fire, as Republicans used a Senate hearing to renew criticism of California officials a day after President Trump signed an executive order seeking to override state and local authority in the rebuilding process.

Testifying Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, two veteran fire officials said the blaze was the predictable result of leaving an earlier fire unmanaged, failing to predeploy resources ahead of forecasted life-threatening winds, and operating without unified command or consistent oversight.

RELATED: Bay Area lab’s new model for forecasting wildfires could change how they’re fought – and save lives

Patrick Butler, chief of the Redondo Beach Fire Department, told senators that the Palisades fire could have been prevented had leaders acted more decisively on the days leading up to the wind-driven blaze. Butler said a previous fire in the area, known as the Lachman fire, was never fully extinguished and later reignited under extreme conditions,

“What I observed was not simply a difficult fire under extreme conditions,” Butler said. “It was the predictable outcome of a breakdown in leadership, preparedness and command discipline. Firefighters were forced to improvise without adequate resources, unified command or consistent safety oversight. This was not a failure of effort by firefighters. It was a failure of leadership above them.”

Butler also criticized local officials for what he described as missed decision-making windows and altered after-action report findings.

Rick Crawford, a retired Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief, echoed those concerns, describing the fire as a case study in how known risks can escalate into catastrophe when governance and coordination break down.

Crawford said predictive tools, interagency planning and preparedness measures existed but were not effectively deployed.

“What failed was not the tactics, strategy, courage or professionalism of firefighters and first responders,” he said. “What failed was the leadership and the system’s ability to convert known risk into decisive, coordinated action early enough to change outcomes.”

The Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, was part of a broader firestorm that swept through Los Angeles County in January 2025. Another major blaze, the Eaton fire in the Altadena area, left 19 people dead and destroyed thousands of structures as powerful winds pushed flames into foothill communities. The twin fires forced tens of thousands of residents to flee and have left many neighborhoods still grappling with cleanup and rebuilding months later.

Wednesday’s hearing followed recent disclosures by Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore that an internal after-action report on the Palisades fire had been revised in ways that reduced criticism of department leadership.

The hearing was led by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson and Rick Scott, who announced last year that they were launching a federal investigation into the Palisades fire.

Republican senators used the hearing to argue that California and Los Angeles officials bear responsibility for the fire’s destruction, with Subcommittee Chair Ron Johnson calling the fire “a failure of leadership.”

Democrats pushed back, saying the hearing risked politicizing recovery efforts as rebuilding continues. They noted that California is still waiting for approval of a $34 billion disaster relief request submitted by Gov. Gavin Newsom nearly 11 months ago.

“I share your concern, Senator Johnson, about the victims of that wildfire,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I invite you to join me in asking the Trump administration to release that additional federal aid.”

In an emailed statement on Thursday, Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, dismissed the hearing as “not sincere,” accusing Republican senators of promoting “debunked misinformation” while ignoring stalled federal disaster aid.

“This hearing was not sincere, and simply another opportunity for MAGA Republicans to try to spin a false narrative about these disasters and use the pain of our communities and survivors to give themselves clout and headlines,” Gallegos said.

The governor’s office said Republicans have mischaracterized California’s recovery efforts and wildfire preparedness to promote their Make America Great Again agenda, pointing to thousands of rebuilding permits issued by local governments since the fires and the state’s expanded wildfire prevention and firefighting capacity in recent years.

The governor’s office also argued that rebuilding has been slowed in part by the Trump administration’s failure to transmit additional federal disaster funding requested nearly a year ago.

A spokesperson for Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., criticized Republican lawmakers for blocking disaster aid following the fires.

“It remains deeply disappointing that even now, and even at this hearing, some Republican Senators continue to stonewall our request for disaster assistance,” the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening. “Senator Schiff will continue to fight for those impacted by these horrific fires, and urge the President and Republicans in Congress to do their part in supporting California’s recovery and deliver the aid so desperately needed.”

The hearing came a day after President Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to develop regulations that could preempt state and local permitting requirements for disaster recovery — a move California officials and Democrats have criticized as a political stunt that could complicate rebuilding.

Mayor Karen Bass previously criticized the executive order, arguing that the federal government lacks authority over local permitting and should instead focus on releasing disaster aid and speeding up Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements.

“The President has no authority over the local permitting process, but where he could actually be helpful is by providing the critical FEMA funding we have been asking for, by speeding up FEMA reimbursements, and by regulating the industries that he alone can impact,” Bass said in a written statement earlier this week.

Her office did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on the Senate hearing.