LOS ANGELES — Last spring, a high-ranking official in the Los Angeles Fire Department alleged that its top administrative commander, Chief Deputy Fred Mathis, appeared to be intoxicated while he was overseeing the agency's operations center during the Palisades fire.
The officer reported that Mathis admitted to her that he had been drinking, according to LAFD records.
Now, the Los Angeles Times has learned that a private law firm hired by the city to investigate the May 18 episode found that Mathis was likely intoxicated at the department's headquarters at City Hall East.
