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Orange County had delayed response to destructive wildfire, report says

Firefighters battle the Canyon No. 2 wildfire in Anaheim Hills in October.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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A Southern California fire agency is overhauling its procedures after a report found that missteps delayed response to a wildfire last fall that burned 15 homes.

The Orange County Fire Authority announced Friday that the agency already has taken some steps to improve its dispatch and deployment, including additional training for fire dispatchers.

Assistant Chief Dave Anderson says the authority will make other needed changes as soon as possible.

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A report Thursday by an independent review panel found that the fire authority didn’t adequately respond to 911 calls reporting flames in an area of the Anaheim Hills that would grown into the Canyon No. 2 fire.

Two callers reported the flames on Oct. 9 but the report says the fire authority didn’t send out a full response for more than an hour.

The fire burned 9,200 acres of brush.

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