County To Open Formal Probe Into Fire

Malibu area county supervisor Sheila Kuehl says she will ask for a vote next week …for an intensive probe on the reaction by public agencies to the Woolsey Fire.

Kuehl hosted a public forum last night … on the fire … at King Gillette Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.

A second forum will be held next Sunday afternoon in Malibu.

Kuehl says th efirst two phases of county response … dealong with the emergency and setting up recovery efforts … are behind us.

KUEHL ONE QQQ COULD WE DO BETTER?

“I’ve also asked a motion. that is going to brought on Tuesday, for essentially Phase Three.

“Which is: what happened, why did it happen, what did we do, what could we do better?”

Kuehl says she has lots of questions about how the county responded to the fire emergency.

KUEHL TWO  QQQ  VERY SERIOUS ABOUT IT.

“Were there early warnings?

“If there were, were they different from community to community?

“What are the reasons why some people didn’t hear, or didn’t get a message?

“What could be done better?

“Was the evacuation handled correctly, if not why not?

“If so, what could we learn from the good that was done?

“That report is going to take awhile, but we are very serious about.”

County fire bosses are under heavy criticism for abandoning Malibu to the fire … sending only a few of the 350 fire trucks that were requested by Malibu commanders.

And the hard-line on the roadblocks by local sheriff’s deputies has been criticized by many .. including the new sheriff.