Former Forest Service officials want a wider probe of the Station fire

A group of former U.S. Forest Service officials is calling for a new and independent investigation into the agency's handling of last year's devastating Station fire, with many contending that an internal inquiry completed in November ignored critical missteps. That probe by the Forest Service's Washington, D.C., headquarters found no tactical errors in the initial attack on the fire. And in a key conclusion, it blamed hazardous terrain for the lack of a heavy air assault early on the fateful second day, when the blaze began to race across the Angeles National Forest. "I didn't think that conclusion was even close to being correct," said Larry Boggs, a former fire management officer who worked for the Forest Service for 31 years, 13 of them in the Angeles. "It was a whitewash. Aircraft would have been quite effective on the fire that day." After learning of the calls for another inquiry, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) told The Times that he plans to convene a panel of Los Angeles-area House members to take testimony here, including from the retirees. "We can have a full airing of the issues that have been raised," said Schiff, who also has urged Congress to require the Forest Service to consider ending a practice that bars its firefighting aircraft from flying night missions...more