City Analysis Of Evacuation Fiasco Points At Sheriff
Written by 991KBU on January 8, 2019
The City of Malibu has put out a report on the fire evacuations.
Residents are furious at the lengthy and unreasonable evacuations.
In the report … issued yesterday … city officials point the finger at state law … which gives the county sheriff sole power to declare an emergency and issue closure orders.
The report .. from Public Safety Director Susan Duenas and city manager Reva Feldman .. says evacuation orders and zones are determined by the Los Angeles County Fire Department based on fire behavior and wind direction.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and CHP are then responsible for executing the evacuations.
And the city officials say state law limits their role during evacuations is limited to communicating to the residents and the community via established communication channels.
KBUU news has interviewed officials at the sheriff’s office and fire department.
They confirm that strong requests were made by Malibu officials to reopen Malibu roads in the week after the fire … and in the absence of that … to allow gas food and emergency tools to be caravanned in.
And in point of fact … such supply caravans were allowed in about 5 days after the fire.
But Malibu residents may say that was too little … and way too late.
The city report also points out that elected officials on the city council have zero role of authority in determining evacuation zones and exemptions.
State law places that solely at the fire department … and the sheriff.
The bottom line … the decisions on roadblocks and evacuations were made by the sheriff’s office … objections were made by Malibu … they were duly considered .. and then rejected.
