As firefighters continue to battle blazes across Los Angeles, authorities are seeking to assess whether any of the devastation could have been minimized with additional resources or personnel.
Drawing on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent employment data from 2023, Newsweek crafted a map showing the number of firefighters per head in each U.S. state.
As of May 2023, California had 27,750 employed firefighters for a population of roughly 39 million. Excluding volunteers, this equates to around one fighter per 1,420 residents. This compares to New Hampshire, with a population of 1.4 million and roughly one firefighter for every 555 citizens.
Why It Matters
The severity of the fires, which have destroyed thousands of homes across Southern California, has sparked criticism of state officials for not equipping local fire departments with sufficient resources to combat the blazes.
Freddy Escobar of the Los Angeles City Fire Department recently described his department as "woefully understaffed" during an interview with CNN, highlighting a concern that had been raised several times with city officials.
To address the need for additional manpower, the state has enlisted nearly 1,000 inmates to assist in fighting the fires, including the most severe blazes in Eaton and Palisades, among the most destructive in Southern California's history.
What To Know
Recent budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department, along with reductions in Overtime Variable Staffing Hours (V-hours), have been cited as factors hindering the response to the ongoing fires.
In a December letter to the Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners, LA Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley warned that these budgetary changes had "adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations, such as technology and communication infrastructure, payroll processing, training, fire prevention, and community education."
A 2024 report by the nonprofit Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation also stressed that budgetary constraints had meant that firefighters were "frequently shouldering the costs for urgent repairs or replacements of basic items," and warned that "48 percent of LAFD fire stations are underserved with less than $1,000 in their station accounts."
Despite its large population, the fire-prone state also boasts a relatively slim number of fire departments: 851 according to the National Fire Department Registry, less than half the number in Pennsylvania (1,770).
What People Are Saying
Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park, in an interview with NPR: "It, to me, feels indicative of what has been chronic underinvestment in the city of Los Angeles and critical infrastructure, as well as our public safety resources. This particular area is in the very high fire severity zone. Many of these risks and threats are well known to the community. And so there is a lot of concern about this amongst residents, who unfortunately have now lost everything."
What Happens Next
As firefighters continue to struggle with containing the fires, experts are warning that extreme, hurricane-force winds could spread the blazes and make fighting them even more challenging.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed an executive order to expedite the cleanup of debris caused by the fires, especially explosive and toxic materials which pose a risk to residents' safety. $100 million has been allocated to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in these efforts.
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