A memo by the Los Angeles Fire Department allegedly revealed plans to “protect” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass regarding her handling of the 2025 wildfires, according to a report.
In a 13-page “confidential memo,” that was entitled “LAFD AARR: Strategic Response Plan,” it was revealed that the goal was to “prepare and protect Mayor Bass, the City, and the LAFD from reputational harm,” according to the Los Angeles Times (LA Times).
The memo was released before an “after-action review report on the Palisades fire,” according to the outlet.
“It’s our goal to prepare and protect Mayor Bass, the City, and the LAFD from reputational harm associated with the upcoming public release of its AARR, through a comprehensive strategy that includes risk assessment, proactive and reactive communications, and crisis response,” the memo says, according to the outlet.
Per the outlet, the memo “aims to shape news media coverage of the report’s findings:”
The 13-page document is on LAFD letterhead and includes email addresses for department officials, representatives of Bass’ office and public relations consultants hired to help shape messaging about the fire, although it is not known to whom it was eventually distributed. The Times obtained the memo, titled “LAFD AAR: Strategic Response Plan,” from the LAFD through the California Public Records Act.
Labeled “for internal use only,” the memo, which is unsigned, aims to shape news media coverage of the report’s findings, including through efforts to “minimize tough Q&A” by asking to hold closed-door briefings with the Fire Commission and City Council. The memo is undated but notes, “This plan has been updated with the latest timeline as of 10/7.” The after-action report was released to the public on Oct. 8.
Breitbart News’s Amy Furr reported that the LA Times previously reviewed an “internal email” that showed that Bass “apparently controlled how questions from the media would be handled.”
The Los Angeles mayor has also been accused of ordering “the watering down of the after-action report” in the aftermath of the devasting wildfires.
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