There is new criticism over the handling of a massive cargo ship fire in the Port of Los Angeles last week. It took nearly six hours for emergency alerts to go out, ordering residents nearby to stay inside and close all windows and doors.

Now, there are a lot of questions about the delayed response.

Those living near the Port of L.A. are commending how frontline firefighters worked the blaze on the cargo ship that erupted on Friday night, but L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says it’s “unacceptable” how the Los Angeles Fire Department alerted the public to potentially hazardous smoke.

“I was really shocked that they didn’t get this right,” Hahn told ABC7 On Your Side Investigates.

Many of her constituents are upset, too.

“There was a delay, and it was disturbing,” said San Pedro resident Diane Cockerill.

Firefighters battle container ship fire at Port of LA; all crew members accounted for

Friday at 6:38 p.m., LAFD put out a bulletin alerting the public to the ship fire.

But it was more than five hours later, at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, when a “shelter-in-place order” was issued, telling those in San Pedro and Wilmington to, “Get inside IMMEDIATELY.”

Hahn lives in the area and was smelling smoke hours earlier.

“What I was struck by was the smell of sort of toxic chemicals that were in the air,” Hahn said.

RELATED: Ports of Long Beach and LA work to avoid shipping delays in aftermath of cargo spill and ship fire

The ports Long Beach and Los Angeles have been working to avoid shipping delays in the aftermath of a major cargo spill in September and a massive fire that erupted last week aboard a container ship.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass told ABC7 On Your Side Investigates that she was at the Port on Friday, and it took firefighters time to figure out what was burning on the cargo ship.

“I was there when those decisions were being made because it really wasn’t sure what exactly was happening,” Bass told Eyewitness News.

According to Bass, at first, winds were blowing the smoke out to the ocean, but that changed later in the night.

“When it was also clear the winds were beginning to shift, then the alert went out,” Bass said.

But to add to the alert confusion, LAFD lifted the shelter-in-place on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. Though, it wasn’t until Sunday at 9:58 p.m. — more than 24 hours later — that residents say they got notifications on their phones that it was all clear.

A shelter-in-place order was lifted in San Pedro hours after a fire erupted on a container ship docked in the Port of L.A.

“To get the call Sunday night to remind us that it had been lifted, really made it look a little like Keystone Cops,” Hahn said.

LAFD sent Eyewitness News a statement on Wednesday, backing up what Bass said.

The department says it was monitoring the air, and everything was within normal limits, but the decision was made to shelter people in place as winds shifted out of an abundance of caution.

LAFD calls that Sunday message residents got, a “follow-up.” However, the department adds that it is reviewing its protocols for emergency alerts and will evaluate current policies to improve the process.