Three elderly women, including a 100-year-old lady, were left behind in their care homes amid botched evacuations as healthcare workers fled for their lives during the Eaton fires, an investigation has found.
The deadly fire on January 7 swept across Los Angeles County in Southern California and killed at least 19 people, making it the fifth deadliest wildfire in the state’s history.
The cause of the devastating inferno remains unknown, but authorities have investigated the possibility that high-tension power lines could have ignited the blaze. Santa Ana winds helped drive the flames into foothill communities, leveling 9,400 buildings and forcing many more, including care homes, to be evacuated.
The California Department of Social Services has now published two reports related to the fire. The documents, seen by the Los Angeles Times, revealed that at least three elderly women were abandoned as the flames drew closer to the two care homes.
Two of the women were left in the MonteCedro assisted living facility, with the other being abandoned at The Terraces at Park Marino. Both senior care facilities have appealed the report’s findings.
According to the report, the Monte Cedro facility was evacuated at 5:00 a.m. on January 8.
The mammoth evacuation effort was supported by the local sheriff’s department, which helped to transport almost 200 residents to the Pasadena Convention Center. The entire process took place over two hours.
However, the assisted living facility only realised that the two women were missing when they carried out a roll call at the evacuation center. After that, MonteCedro staff alerted the Sheriff’s Department to their absence.
A subsequent search of the assisted living facility ended after the two women, one of whom was 100 years old, were found wandering the empty halls as the flames approached the building.
“The two residents were left behind due to the facility’s failure to follow facility emergency evacuation procedures,” the report read.
John Ward, whose mother was one of the women abandoned at MonteCedro, said that he would not let the grave error overshadow her experience at the center.
“The love and care they give for the people there is just fantastic,” Ward said, according to the LA Times. “They screwed up, it was a bad day for them; they didn’t follow protocol, and they should have. ... Other than that, they’re great. ...Let’s hope that they’ve learned.”
The other facility highlighted in the report was The Terraces at Park Marino, in Pasadena. The home was evacuated on January 7, but the DSS report stated that “at least one resident was left in the room and had to be evacuated by the Fire Department.”
No other procedural errors were reported as being made by The Terraces. According to the report, though, the resident was only evacuated after their “responsible party” called the police to express concern about their whereabouts.
Pasadena Fire Captain Trey Sorenson confirmed that he received a call about the resident, a wheelchair user, during an appearance on a podcast.
“That person had called a family member, the family member called dispatch, dispatch let the command post know,” Sorensen said on The Debrief with Jon Becker.
Both care homes have appealed against the report’s findings.
MonteCedro was cited for violating the California Health and Safety Code, which requires care facilities to have clear emergency plans.
James Rothrock, chief executive of Episcopal Communities & Services, which runs MonteCedro, said in a statement seen by the LA Times, that all of the care facility’s staff are trained in emergency procedures and that the evacuation process was “led and controlled by the L.A. County Fire and Sheriff’s Department.”
The DSS report stated that The Terraces had violated a California Code of Regulations, which protects the personal rights of residents.
According to The LA Times, The Terraces at Park Marino said that it had “not only complied with its legal obligations, it executed its evacuation plan effectively under extreme circumstance.”
The care facility plans to reopen after major repairs are made to the building, according to the LA Times, while the MonteCedro facility has already reopened.
The Independent has contacted The Terraces at Park Marino, MonteCedro, the DSS, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment.
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