LOS ANGELES — A crisis response team under Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, with hundreds of trained volunteers and a budget of nearly $1 million, remained on the sidelines for a week as the city endured one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. The Post reported that it was a difficult battle.
The beleaguered mayor's failure to quickly deploy these critical aid resources was a major blow to the Palisades fire, which killed nine people, gutted thousands of homes, and engulfed an area half the size of the city. It is the latest in a series of failed leadership decisions that have characterized the response. Originally from Brooklyn, New York.
It wasn't until Tuesday that the mayor's office began sending volunteers to help fire victims, after The Post began asking questions about why volunteers weren't working.
“This team has more money than any other team in the country, but they're just flat-footed and not responding at all,” one longtime volunteer told the Post.
“This surprised me.”
Days after the fire broke out, volunteers were informed in an email obtained by the Post from interim director Edward Alamo that their work was not being requested.
In a follow-up email, program manager Ane Vecchione reiterated to volunteers that “we are not sending to shelters or community resource centers at this time.”
Both Mr. Alamo and Mr. Vecchione declined to comment.
Joseph Avalos, who served as director of the Mayor's Crisis Response Team (CRT) for 13 years until Bass fired him last May, said he was not receiving calls from the team (usually texts, voice messages or emails). He told the Post he was “shocked” by the news. 250 members.
“Then I got a call from a current CRT member and said they were still waiting and hadn't joined yet. To be honest, I don't know why.”
During the fire, several volunteers continued to receive text notifications about being dispatched to minor tragedies such as car accidents, but none were delivered to fire victims.
Avalos said that in the event of a major incident, a mass appeal is needed to quickly identify who can take action and when.
LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart also said she was unaware that the mayor's office was implementing CRTs.
According to CRT's website, the Los Angeles Mayor's Crisis Response Team was created in 1992 to work with victims of fires, crimes and other incidents.
The group has previously responded to large-scale tragedies, such as the 2023 Monterey Park shooting.
According to CRT's website, trained volunteers provide “immediate, on-site, practical and psychological support to survivors.”
Team members are trained in everything from staffing shelters to providing psychological first aid to survivors.
The Palisades and Eaton fires on January 7 killed at least 25 people and damaged or destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses.
“The Mayor's Crisis Response Team should be brought into this incident because there are multiple deaths,” said former LAFD Battalion Chief Rick Crawford.
“The mayor doesn't have to wait for a request and has full authority to deploy at his discretion,” said Crawford, who retired from LAFD earlier this year and is now the Capitol's emergency and crisis management coordinator. said.
The volunteer group operates out of the Mayor's Office of Public Safety and reports to Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Brian Williams.
But Williams was placed on leave in late December after the FBI searched his home after allegedly making a bomb threat against City Hall.
CRT also does not have a permanent director, despite an increase in recruitment last year.
Christopher Anyakwo, a member of Williams' staff, denied that the organization had been removed, saying, “CRT is currently assisting at the disaster recovery center.”
However, he did not say why volunteers were sent an email stating that the group was not active.
A spokesperson for Bass said the team was “currently” working at the disaster recovery center, but did not say when the volunteers would be mobilized.
“We are grateful that they answered our call to service,” it said in a statement.
