Mayor Steve Bach June 26, 2012/Photo by Daniel J. Chacón

Whether mandatory evacuations for Mountain Shadows during the Waldo Canyon fire were issued early enough will be the subject of an “after-action review” to be made public in a few weeks.

That’s according to Mayor Steve Bach, who issued a statement about the timing of evacuations following reports by The Gazette and The Denver Post.

(The photo shows Bach minutes before the 4 p.m. June 26 press conference at Coronado High School. Also in the picture are Bret Waters, manager of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, and Chief Communications Officer Cindy Aubrey. CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A CLOSER LOOK.)

The city issued the following press release Friday:

“In response to a few media reports about the management of the Waldo Canyon fire, Mayor Steve Bach reaffirms his strong belief that, based on all current information available, the Colorado Springs Fire and Police Departments did everything humanly possible, as soon as possible, to aid and assist all of our citizens.”

That statement included the following statement — and Quote of the Day — from Mayor Steve Bach.

“We will complete, as planned, a thorough after-action review and will make those results available in a few weeks.  We want to learn all we can from an event like this.   Our dedicated first responders performed superbly.  We will continue to look at improving where necessary and building on our strengths,” Bach said.