Schiff supports inquiry of Station fire-related call

Rep. Adam Schiff on Tuesday backed a federal probe into taped recordings of a U.S. Forest Service call center that included the period of the Station fire.

The recent discovery of the taped calls came days before Schiff is scheduled to convene an Aug. 10 panel to discuss the Station fire and the initial firefighting attack, which critics say was too tepid, allowing the fire to grow out of control.

Schiff’s office on Tuesday released a statement backing Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s request for a probe into why the recordings were made, and why they were only recently made public.

“I am concerned with the late discovery of these recorded conversations by the Forest Service, and the fact that these calls appear to have been recorded without the knowledge or consent of some or all of the parties to these calls,” Schiff said in a statement.

He also said he was interested to see if the recordings would shed any light on the investigation into how the early response to the Station fire unfolded.

The Aug. 10 panel discussion will meet 10 a.m. at Volosh Forum at Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.

The panel will include Reps. David Dreier, Howard “Buck” McKeon and Judy Chu, as well as Angeles National Forest Supervisor Jody Noiron and several high-ranking fire officials.