Los Angeles television stations defend their coverage of the fire

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and some viewers are complaining that local television stations did not adequately inform residents of the Station fire over the weekend, despite evacuations and threats to homes. Supervisor Antonovich on Monday accused television news stations of being negligent in failing to provide comprehensive fire coverage. "There were a large number of evacuations taking place, people and animals were in danger, and people had no information of where to go," Antonovich said in an interview. "I'm upset. The media let people down during a horrendous fire, one of the worst in the county's history." But local news officials countered Monday that they gave appropriate coverage to what was then principally a brush fire. They noted that the fire had already been burning for a couple of days before the weekend and had not at that time posed a serious threat to a large number of residences.