The West Hollywood City Council reviewed a comprehensive report on the city’s response to the January 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires, which ravaged 55,000 acres, destroyed 16,000 structures, and displaced 200,000 people. The council directed staff to strengthen emergency preparedness, particularly for vulnerable residents, following community feedback regarding communication and evacuation challenges during the crisis.
The January fires, including the Eaton, Palisades, and Hurst blazes, prompted swift action. A Red Flag Warning on January 6 triggered 24/7 coordination with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments, with staff in a Multi-Agency Command Center. The Sunset Fire on January 8, near West Hollywood, led to a Crisis Response Team monitoring from the city’s Emergency Operations Center. No evacuation was needed, but confusion arose from overlapping City of Los Angeles alerts. The city issued timely updates via social media, news releases, and Everbridge/Nixle, adding 1,353 new Nixle subscribers. An Urgency Ordinance on January 21 eased housing rules for evacuees, though only one ineligible application was received.
Councilmember Lauren Meister criticized the lack of clarity in alerts, noting, “The confusion and feeling of lack of communication from some residents, especially those on the East side, wasn’t as clear cut.” She proposed a resident survey to assess the response and an opt-out Nixle system, saying, “It’s easier to ask people to opt-out. You will retain a lot more people than expecting them to opt-in.” Meister also questioned the underuse of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers, asking, “Did we use CERT in this incident? We didn’t,” and urged their deployment for evacuee support.
Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers noted the importance of non-vehicle evacuation options, stating, “Evacuation without vehicle dependency is critical beyond the people living with disabilities, homebound older adults. There were community members who had children and cats and no car who were very concerned about how would get out. She also advocated training for apartment managers to help by planning for and assisting during evacuations. “Building by building, block by block, we’re empowering the community to build a new muscle for itself,” she said.
Resident Kevin Burton, a CERT advocate, highlighted chaotic evacuations, recalling, “People were evacuating down from Hollywood… traffic was moving very slowly.” He urged non-car evacuation options like bikes or scooters and supported F.3’s siren study for redundancy, noting, “Not every individual will be in contact with traditional outreach channels.”
The report recommends quarterly plan reviews, multilingual alerts, and a registry for vulnerable populations, aligning with a countywide review by the McChrystal Group. With updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps and Incident Command System training, West Hollywood is fortifying the city to protect all residents in future crises.
Wildfire threats posed to West Hollywood & the entire LA area is likely to increase significantly in the upcoming years. Anthropogenic Climate Change being the single most significant factor contributing to the increased frequency & severity of wildfires in California. Warmer temperatures, drier conditions, and changes in precipitation patterns, all influenced by anthropogenic climate change. This creates extreme weather conditions making wildfires more likely to start, more severy &, spread rapidly. Significantly warmer temperatures and drier conditions are extending the wildfire season, meaning there are ever more days each year when conditions are ripe for wildfires🔥!
Glad to see West Hollywood taking emergency preparedness seriously after those wildfires. I hope the live photo setup on the alert system is easy to understand this time! Good to know they are listening to residents’ feedback.