Firefighters urged broader Altadena evacuations before midnight, but three hours passed before officials issued west Altadena mandatory evacuation orders as the Eaton fire advanced.

Eighteen of nineteen Eaton fire deaths occurred in west Altadena, where evacuation orders were delayed until after fires broke out.

County officials acknowledged a communication ‘gap,’ but the unified command structure makes accountability unclear as independent state investigations into the response continue.

The Eaton fire was cutting a destructive path into Altadena and parts of northern Pasadena just before midnight Jan. 8 when some fire officials urged more widespread evacuations.

With home after home going up in flames, several Los Angeles County firefighters on the ground suggested to incident comman

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