Fires tied to homelessness make up nearly one-third of LAFD responses.
The LA Fire Department says nearly a third of all firefighting responses in the last seven years have been tied to persons experiencing homelessness, and in a new report, officials suggested the Fire Department should begin to get its own share of the billions of dollars the City has spent on homeless relief efforts to bolster its own $838 million budget.
"The LAFD has and will continue to be directly involved in the direct response to the homelessness crisis," wrote Battalion Chief Eric Roberts in a memo detailing the department's resources being increasingly devoted to issues involving persons experiencing homelessness, or "PEH," in City lingo.
Between 2018 and 2024, LAFD firefighters responded to 232,266 fire calls, and of those, 76,449, or 32.9%, were related to homelessness, with the bulk of the increase -- a 475% jump -- counted in the number of rubbish fire calls in the last decade, of which 42% were linked to homelessness.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/fires-tied-to-homelessness-make-up-nearly-1-3-of-lafd-responses/3673530/
5 minute news clip with the president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles, Freddy Escobar: