Concerns Raised Over County Employee During Eaton Fire Response

A whistleblower has claimed that a Los Angeles County employee, responsible for issuing evacuation warnings during the Eaton Fire, frequently fell asleep on the job. Nick Baquero, deputy director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, alleges that Steve Lieberman, a long-time county worker, had a history of dozing off at work, which reportedly occurred over a dozen times before he took on night watch duty during the wildfires in January 2025.

Lieberman was in charge of the team that sent emergency alerts and evacuation notices while the fire ravaged a hilly area northeast of Los Angeles. The blaze ultimately claimed 19 lives and forced thousands to evacuate, marking it as one of the deadliest wildfires in the region’s recent history. Some residents in Altadena, for instance, only received evacuation orders several hours after the fire began threatening their neighborhoods.

An independent report commissioned by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and prepared by the McChrystal Group indicated that inadequate resources and outdated policies contributed to delays in issuing evacuation alerts during the fire’s early destruction on local neighborhoods. Baquero argues that county leaders ignored multiple warnings about staffing for critical overnight operations, thus risking public safety.

County officials, including Kevin McGowan and Leslie Luke, strongly rejected these claims. They insisted they witnessed Lieberman fully alert during the response efforts. Lieberman, for his part, acknowledged to LAist that he may have dozed off during long shifts in his nearly 40 years in emergency services, but assured that it was not a frequent issue and didn’t occur on the night of the Eaton Fire.

“I’ve been in this field for a long time,” he mentioned. “I’m 63 years old and have some health issues, but I don’t fall asleep on the job as a rule. That’s just absurd.”

The allegations have raised pressing questions about how Los Angeles County managed the critical early hours of the Eaton Fire, particularly regarding the timeliness of evacuation orders. Currently, multiple reviews are ongoing as officials feel increasing pressure to clarify their response that night. Unfortunately, for many residents who waited hours for warnings, clear answers remain elusive.