The Los Angeles County Fire Department will hire an independent investigator to probe a reported three-hour delay in evacuation orders issued in the west Altadena area in response to the Eaton fire on Jan. 7, after a state-commissioned report out this week raised questions over the timeline of the alerts, Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Friday.

The pending investigation comes in the wake of a report out Thursday, commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom, on the spread of the Palisades and Eaton fires that suggested that the movement of the Eaton fire from east Pasadena into west Altadena occurred earlier than originally reported, leaving questions on whether evacuation orders should have come sooner.

The Eaton fire, which started at 6:18 p.m. Jan. 7 near high-tension electrical towers in rugged Eaton Canyon, burned homes in east Pasadena, torched rugged terrain in the San Gabriel Mountains, then when winds shifted, moved toward west Altadena as early as 9:20 p.m, according to the Fire Safety Research Institute’s Southern California Fires Timeline Report.

By 10:50 p.m. Jan. 7, there were fire calls for a roof on fire of a home on Calaveras Street in Altadena, two blocks west of Lake Avenue and three blocks south of East Altadena Drive. The is significant because it shows embers burning homes outside the fire’s perimeter.

From tracking 911 calls and using pictures of houses on fire with timestamps from residents, the report put together a lengthy timeline of when the Eaton fire had moved from east Pasadena to west Altadena.

Many west Altadena residents told the Southern California News Group that they did not receive alerts to evacuate until 3 a.m., with some saying they got an alert at 5 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 8, more than 10 hours after the fire began. The report cites calls of homes on fire in west Altadena hours before that time.

More timely alerts to evacuate may have helped more victims get out sooner, before the flames burned down their homes.

“The County of Los Angeles Fire Department is initiating an independent investigation into the reported three-hour delay before evacuation orders were sent for west Altadena,” said Marrone in a written statement Friday.

Marrone said county officials still believe the timelines presented in a previous report, commissioned by the county, the McChrystal report,  and the newly-released FSRI after action reviews are consistent.

But “there are ongoing questions that remain regarding the reported delay in evacuation orders being sent,” he said, noting that the fire department is working with County Counsel to identify an independent firm or experts who can perform the investigation

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger, whose district includes Altadena, said she backed such an investigation.

“I fully support launching an independent investigation into evacuation orders in West Altadena. The Fire Safety Research Institution Timeline Report has brought more data to light that warrants action,” she said in a statement Friday. “I will continue championing transparency and accountability. Altadena residents deserve nothing less.”