Lawmaker wants congressional probe into Los Angeles blaze

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, urged Congress on Monday to examine whether the Forest Service erred by not calling in more firefighting aircraft in the early hours of the blaze in August.

The fire, the largest ever in Los Angeles County, ultimately killed two firefighters, destroyed 89 homes and blackened 250 square miles.

Government records show the Forest Service summoned several powerful firefighting airplanes early in its efforts to snuff out the blaze, then canceled and reordered them.

The Forest Service says aircraft alone would have been ineffective and that ground crews could not reach the steep terrain.