Fire Union Chief Breaks Down in Tears Telling CNN About Staffing Shortfall He Warned About
Freddy Escobar, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, broke down in tears Tuesday as he was interviewed by CNN national correspondent Kyung Lah about the staffing shortfalls he warned about shortly before the deadly wildfires that have devastated the area.
The Los Angeles wildfires have burned nearly 40,000 acres, killed at least 25 people so far, forced the evacuations of over a hundred thousand people, and destroyed entire neighborhoods — and concerns remain over persisting high wind and drought conditions.
Lah was in Altadena Tuesday afternoon, telling anchor Wolf Blitzer that the fire department had warned about staffing and budget issues “as recently as last month.”
At a city commission meeting, Escobar had warned about this, saying “it’s dire” and “someone will die,” Lah said.
“It’s eerie listening to your words because that’s what occurred. So — it’s — let me just take a minute, sorry,” said Escobar, pausing and turning away from the camera as he got choked up.
“You’re not supposed to make me cry,” he added, before wiping his eyes.
Escobar was a 35 year veteran of the LA fire department, Lah narrated, and “wishes he’d been wrong, and this had not happened.” He had warned “for years” that a disaster like this could happen, she continued, “and while the cataclysmic weather conditions were historic, Escobar also blames something predictable that hurt the fire fight: money.”
“This is a woefully understaffed fire department,” Escobar told Lah. “We’re either going to have a fire department that’s going to reflect 2025, or we’re going to have a fire department that’s going to reflect the 1960s.”
Lah mentioned new reporting by CNN that she contributed to, an analysis showing that Los Angeles was among one of the most understaffed cities for fire departments, with “millions of dollars in rescue equipment, is just sitting in a lot unused because the fire department can’t afford to hire the mechanics to repair it.”
A recent memo from the LA fire chief said that “the department’s staffing levels were half the size of what they should be,” Lah said.
“If we cut one position, if we close one station, if we close one resource, the residents of Los Angeles are going to pay the ultimate sacrifice and someone will die,” Escobar was shown in a video clip saying at a LA Fire Commission meeting, urging for the city to reconsider the budget.
From the CNN report:
A CNN analysis of the most recent data available from the 10 largest US cities and other comparable departments shows the Los Angeles Fire Department is less staffed than almost any other major city, leaving it struggling to meet both daily emergencies and larger disasters such as wildfires.
Despite being located in one of the most fire-prone areas in the country, the LAFD has less than one firefighter for every 1,000 residents. That compares to cities such as Chicago, Dallas and Houston, where staffing is closer to two firefighters for the same number of residents. Of the largest cities, only San Diego has fewer firefighters per capita…
Experts have said no fire department in the world would have been able to take on such a perfect storm of conditions that resulted in LA’s devastating blazes – which have burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and caused at least 24 deaths.
LA’s firefighters were joined by crews from across the state, including from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which covers areas outside the city, including hard-hit Altadena. But images of residents in some neighborhoods trying to save homes with garden hoses and no firefighters in sight have sparked a new debate over whether city officials should have planned better and invested more in the LAFD, and what should be done to become better positioned for the next emergency.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
