So did you find that in your reporting?

Yeah, and frustration is a very polite way of putting it.

So much frustration.

so much anger over the response and the miscommunication and the information that just did not get out fast enough and it really permeated every Part of this response, I think most significantly with the evacuation orders, evacuation orders were not issued quickly enough when this fire first sparked.

And when I say quickly enough, it took more than two hours before the first evacuation orders were handed down.

And at that point, you already had residents taking matters into their own hands.

evacuating into the streets i remember pulling up into the palisades about an hour after the fire started there was gridlock in the streets and that gridlock prevented fire crews once they did arrive to even break through to get to the areas where those flames were growing that frustration that you also sensed when you were there about a week later i mean you yourself know the fire was still burning at that point there were still threats to be had in that area and there were not a lot of straight answers coming from officials about what happened and what could have been done to prevent it in fact there was a lot of passing the buck and a lot of pointing fingers and oftentimes fingers were pointed at climate change and mother nature and while climate change certainly has amplified the weather that we're seeing the extreme weather causing disasters like this this was ultimately as my reporting makes very clear from the sourcing i've spoken with in the scientists this was a man-made disaster of a different kind it was truly a failure to heed warnings and to prepare accordingly and i just want to put this in perspective because i've covered so many of these fires unfortunately i have never covered a fire where on day three homes are still catching fire without firefighters adequately equipped to respond and to put the fire out.

Jonathan, talk to me about how these ideas encompass three people in particular, Mayor Bass, Governor Newsom, and President Trump.

So did you find that in your reporting?

Yeah.

And frustration is a very polite, a polite way of putting it.

So much frustration.

so much anger over the response and the miscommunication and the information that just did not get out fast enough.

And it really permeated every part of this response.

I think most significantly with the evacuation orders.

Jonathan, talk to me about how these ideas encompass three people in particular, Mayor Bass, Governor Newsom, and President Trump.

Are politics and policy just too slow to adapt to what people need now when it comes to climate change?

Politics and policy are, are certainly too slow to adapt, and I also think politics and the optics of messing something up are also impacting our ability, our leaders' ability to confront accountability, to recognize where there were mistakes made, and to clearly articulate and outline how we can operate together in the future to prevent history from repeating itself.

And what is very clear from the fire experts I speak with, even though we have a climate change issue, there are things that we could do through policy and through simple building materials that can help us weather the future storm.

You know, in the aftermath, there has been this rush to rebuild.

There's been this rapid push for permits to go through.

Typically, after a disaster, it takes about twelve to eighteen months to get permits approved.

Here in Los Angeles, w- we're talking three months.

How is that event impacting the way Los Angeles rebuilds? Because now it's, there, there's a ticking clock on this.

When did you first think this was not just a tragedy, this was a failure?

That first day.

So January 7th, 2025, the Palisades fire broke out just before 10:30 AM that morning.

My team and I, we arrived shortly thereafter, uh, about an hour or so after the fire began, and when we arrived in town, there was chaos from the very beginning.

Uh, self-evacuations, evacuation orders had not been issued, which was very odd, because oftentimes evacuation orders are issued before a fire even breaks out, when wind is dangerous.

It wasn't really dangerous at this point in the day, but certainly these evacuation orders are issued within minutes after a fire sparks, especially in an area as vulnerable and prone to a massive fire like the Palisades was known to be prone to.

And so to see that chaos, that was, that was, uh, initially concerning, uh, for so many reasons, but, but in terms of a failed response concerning.

When did the Olympics become part of the story for you?

Here's the question: If Angela's no-contact order had been enforced in a better way, what should have happened with this case?

Great question, Ann Marie.

It-- I've covered a number of 48 Hours cases.

Uh, usually, uh, the whodunit of these cases is the mystery.

Uh, as it pertains to this story, the mystery was why wasn't more done in time? E-everyone we spoke with, from prosecutors to David O'Brien, he's the civil rights attorney representing Angela's family in that lawsuit against Bellevue police investigators, they all said more could have been done.

There were two no-contact orders that were issued.

The first one, Angela actually lifted herself because she wanted to give her marriage a second chance, but then it became very clear, uh, that the violence was only escalating.

Um, this must have had a tremendous impact on the family.

Mm-hmm

... of this fire happening.

As the flames were still ripping through the Palisades, and I was there on the ground watching as lives were still being lost, you had our top leaders, from the governor to the mayor, discussing ways of really mobilizing the rebuild at a rapid rate to beautify the city, essentially, ahead of the games.

And in that early period, there were those discussions to rapidize the-- and really expedite the permitting process so that homeowners could get back to their properties quickly.

And now, you know, speed is not the enemy of good, but when you are making shortcuts, sometimes you end up with a situation where history could repeat itself.

And from those that I've spoken with, including wildfire experts, that is what we are seeing right now.

You have a permitting process that typically, after a disaster of this scale, takes anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

So how does, how does one sort of walk that fine line between expediency of getting an area rebuilt and back on its feet versus, uh, doing things slow and methodically and, and doing it right the first time?

... emotionally stayed with you long after this coverage ended?

There were many momentsThe, the one that really I think changed my life and, and really changed the way I appreciate life was when my producer and I, my producer Christian Duran, it was the end of a very long day on January 7th of reporting on these fires.

We were heading back toward the beach to just get a little bit of shut-eye for an hour or two before we had to wake up and do it all again for the following morning.

And as we reached Pacific Coast Highway, for the first time in about an hour, I was able to get cell service, and I looked at my Instagram, and I had a message from a colleague of mine.

Her friend had seen me earlier at the Palisades High School, which was burning, and she was hoping that I could go and check on her home because three of her dogs were inside and trapped.

Her husband was waiting at the perimeter.

He had been away at work.

How preventable do you believe this tragedy was?

So how does, how does one sort of walk that fine line between expediency of getting an area rebuilt and back on its feet versus, uh, doing things slow and methodically and, and doing it right the first time?

Yeah, it sounds odd that both things can be true, both speed and in some cases really a slowed and delayed process, the speed coming from the permitting process, the slashing of regulations, uh, this slowdown coming from really what is now reality.

There aren't enough people to build.

Uh, you know, I think the process here is as simple as taking a beat.

I'm not saying taking many months, a year, or more as is typical after a disaster of this kind, but there needs to be a discussion.

There needs to be a reality check.

First, we have to confront what actually happened, how this fire started and was able to grow so quickly, and so much of that was due to a failed response.

Can you set that scene for us?

Was there a moment or two in particular or a couple of experiences during the fires that will stay with you forever?

Yeah.

You know, a lot of it stays with me forever.

I think most of it, which is why writing this book was actually a very cathartic experience because it was a way to piece together these isolated moments, and there were so many of them over the course of 20 plus days of reporting.

Honestly, the first moment, and I write about this in the book, was when my producer and I, my producer, Christian Duran, we were driving to the fire.

So the CBS News Bureau, I'm a national correspondent with CBS News.

The bureau's in Studio City.

That's all so absurd, and I wanted to ask you if there was anything else that may be even more absurd or infuriating as a failure that you uncovered while reporting and researching the book.

... you know, thousands of miles away? How much behind the eight ball did her being in Ghana put her?

I, you know, I believe she should've been there, but I also believe she could've been in, in Ghana, she could've chosen to go, as long as she laid out that blueprint for how to attack and respond to this disaster.

Instead, what happened, she left pretty discreetly.

No one was aware of what was going on, who was where.

The, it was very unclear to many people where the mayor was.

Again, Ghana, more than 7,000 miles away.

The fire breaks out January 7th.

In your estimation and reporting, how did yoking their ambitions to the Olympics warp what should have been the best practices in rebuilding?