The head of the Los Angeles firefighters union said the incompetence of local leaders has made the wildfire crisis far worse than it should have been.
Freddie Escobar, president of the Los Angeles County United Firefighters, said: comment On Monday to Breitbart News.
“LAFD has been ignored by our leaders. … We are severely understaffed.
“I was on the board of directors [of the Los Angeles Fire Department] “LAFD has been ignored by our leaders for 17 years, and in recent years and decades,” Escobar said. “They're not addressing a severely understaffed fire department. We need 62 new stations, 100 more firefighters and medics, more engines, more trucks, more medics. We're badly understaffed. There is a shortage of manpower.”
Southern California was devastated some Wildfires killed more than 24 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes and businesses. Critics have slammed local lawmakers over various shortcomings in the emergency response.
Escobar went on to admit that staffing wasn't pre-assigned for the wildfires because the budget-strapped department didn't want to pay overtime.
He said Los Angeles Fire Chief Christine Crowley made an “operational funding decision” denying pre-deployment that could have saved lives and reduced the damage caused by the fire.
Escobar claimed that fire officials “decided not to deploy all personnel the day before the fire, so that when there is a red flag on the scene, additional personnel will be given.” [high wind] day to day. ”
Escobar asserted that the hydrant system was “not intended” to be able to combat disaster-sized wildfires, but the decision to leave the Santa Ynez Reservoir above the Pacific Palisades empty contributed to the destruction. He said he did.
He also said fire departments are being asked to respond to an increasing number of calls about homelessness amid budget cuts.
“We cannot sustain what is happening with our homeless calls and our current staffing levels,” Escobar continued.
But Escobar said DEI policies are not a significant cause of the fire department's problems.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent investigation into what led to hydrants running out of water during the emergency response to the fire.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
