CNN's Kaitlan Collins Is Infuriated That No One Cares About Trump Blasting Dems...
Watch Scott Jennings Slaps Down Lib Media Claim That Illegals Won't Get Health...
Wait, a Dem Rep Really Said This About Trump During the Schumer Shutdown
The Latest Sombrero-Mariachi Responses to the Schumer Shutdown Are Gold
No Apologies: Proud to Stand With Israel, Proud to Defend the West
Trump Posted a New Clip Trolling Hakeem Jeffries...and Another That's Really Going to...
Democrats Thought They Had the Upper Hand in the Schumer Shutdown. WaPo Says...
Qatar Is Bankrolling Global Terror—and It’s a Direct Threat to the West
Let's Stop Pretending About Charlie Kirk's Assassination
Empty Lives
This 2019 Clip of Democrats Is Coming Back to Haunt Them Amid Shutdown...
Amidst Concerns About Left-Wing Lawfare, States Should Review Who They Have on Contract...
It’s Time to Choose Cooperation Over Continued Chaos
Talking Point vs. Truth
Direct Democracy Can Save Younger Generations From Penury
Tipsheet

LAFD Skipped Pre-deployment to Avoid Overtime, Union President Claims

AP Photo/Richard Vogel

President of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles County (UFLAC) Freddie Escobar said Monday that L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley made an “operating funds decision” not to pre-deploy in order to avoid paying overtime.

Advertisement

“I’ve been on the board [of the Los Angeles Fire Department] for 17 years, and for years now, for decades, the LAFD has been neglected by its leaders,” Escobar told Breitbart News. “They have not addressed a woefully understaffed fire department. We need 62 new stations; 100 more firefighters and medics, more engines, trucks, medics. We are woefully understaffed.”

Escobar noted that while the fire itself was caused by extreme winds and “the man upstairs,” the scale of the fire was primarily because of the lack of resources, including personnel. He added that the department was reluctant to pay OT.

Mayor Karen Bass’s budget had cut fire department expenditures by $17.5 million and the overtime budget by over $19 million. 

While Escobar stated that he didn’t know whether the fire department could have prevented the fire outright,  “… more could have helped. … If we had the resources that we’ve been asking for, that we need, in a city that’s been neglected by its leaders for decades.”

Advertisement

On January 6th, the day before the fire started, the decision was made “not to staff every single resource which would give you additional manpower with the field on red flag [high wind] days,” Escobar stated, adding that the Department of Water and Power were also at fault, saying that “[W]e had water issues the entire time. Even on the second day… dry hydrants, or hydrants with little to no pressure.”

Firefighters should be consulted on other issues as well, such as water management and urban planning, when future planning, Escobar said.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos