After the fires: A glance back at The Times’ coverage of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires

The Times spent the last year investigating how government agencies handled the Eaton and Palisades fires. The reporting found failures in preplanning, evacuation orders, firefighting tactics and the cleanup of the Lachman fire that exploded into the Palisades fire days later. Here are some highlights of the coverage:

A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades designed to provide water during a major fire was offline and empty when the Jan. 7 firestorm erupted, worsening the water shortage faced by firefighters. READ THE STORY

Despite warnings of extreme winds, top Los Angeles Fire Department commanders decided not to assign for emergency deployment hundreds of available firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines in advance of the Jan. 7 firestorm. READ THE STORY

A review of hundreds of radio calls shows L.A. County failed to issue evacuation orders for the western half of Altadena until more than nine hours after the Eaton fire exploded. By then, many homes were already on fire. All but one of the 19 lives lost in Altadena were in the western part of the city. READ THE STORY

Records and interviews show hours of utter chaos at the command center for Eaton fire, with limited coordination among agencies and confusion about the path of the fire that stymied timely evacuations. READ THE STORY

Confusion, missteps and a lack of communication and coordination by local officials created a harrowing, disorganized evacuation for residents of Pacific Palisades and Malibu. READ THE STORY

The Times conducted soil tests on home lots burned by the January fires and found elevated levels of toxic metals, arsenic, lead and mercury. The newspaper moved in after federal officials decided not to require testing. READ THE STORY

As the Eaton fire burned a path of destruction, only one L.A. County fire truck was positioned on the west side of Altadena, where nearly all of the deaths took place. Many trucks had been deployed to other areas hit by flames. The fire chief admitted it was “human error” not to have more resources on the west side. READ THE STORY

Text messages revealed that firefighters mopping up the Lachman fire were ordered to roll up their hoses and leave the burn scene on Jan. 2 even though they complained the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch. READ THE STORY

Some firefighters on the ground in Altadena urged commanders to issue widespread evacuation orders around midnight Jan. 7 as flames raged through the area. But commanders did not issue evacuations for west Altadena for another three hours. READ THE STORY

When the Eaton fire broke out in the foothills near Altadena, the Los Angeles County Fire Department did not have access to a satellite-based fire-tracking program regularly used by other agencies, depriving officials of intelligence that could have been helpful in determining evacuations. READ THE STORY