LA Mayor Karen Bass secretly altered Palisades fire analysis to downplay LA’s failures – report | 4 Feb 2026 | Embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass secretly altered the official Palisades Fire response report to downplay the failures made by the city and fire department when the deadly blaze erupted, a new report said. Bass, after seeing an early draft of the after-action report, wanted key findings of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s shortcomings scrubbed or watered down — and even warned then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva the unedited conclusions could expose the city to legal liability, sources close to the Democrat’s staff told the Los Angeles Times. Bass was cautioned that the self-serving tweaks in with the report was a “bad idea” that could torpedo her political career, but still withheld the working draft until after changes were made, insiders told the Times.