The initial after action report released by the city on Tuesday said that staff would need more training for years to come. The report suggested the city come up with a way to provide important information immediately to police, firefighters and sheriff's deputies.

The fire started June 23. Three days later it spread into western Colorado Springs, where it destroyed over 340 homes and killed two people.

"It was chaotic. There's no question about that," Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said as he helped release the preliminary report.

An emergency notification system failed to send thousands of evacuation notices during the fire. 

"A system/process needs to be designed and implemented to provide immediate notification to first responders and key agency representatives as decisions are made throughout the event," read part of the report's conclusions.

A report on the failure is expected in early November.

(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation with The Associated Press)