But the fire chief strongly denied suggestions that there was only one fire truck in the western Altadena area, or that firefighters were “sitting idle” as the conflagration raged. Luna also insisted that sheriff’s deputies were in the western Altadena area urging residents to leave, even before evacuation orders were issued. Some Altadena residents attending the meeting, however, disputed those contentions, saying they didn’t see any emergency responders in the area for hours. The rapid spread of the fires also left incident commanders unable to keep up and issue timely evacuation warnings and orders. Some areas did not receive evacuation warnings at all before many residents had already decided to leave.