Wildfire Three months later, Mayor Bass proposes to add more than 200 jobs to LAFD

Mayor Karen Bass is seeking to add dozens of new employees to the fire department, even as a range of other agencies face layoffs after a few months of the most destructive wildfires in modern Los Angeles history.

The mayor has been working to close the nearly $1 billion gap, calling for an additional 227 positions to the fire department in the 2025-26 budget proposal released on Monday.

The department with about 3,250 firefighters will be about half of the new employees. The remaining new positions include 25 new emergency medical technicians, in addition to mechanics and other agencies.

Genethia Hudley Hayes, chairman of the city’s fire commission, said Monday that the fire department had less than a decade of resources.

“I feel very hopeful,” she said of Beth’s budget proposal. “The mayor absolutely said she understands we will have to get more money.”

The Bass Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the days after the Palisades fire broke out, then-fire chief Kristin Crowley said budget cuts hindered the fire department’s ability to drive the fire with the wind. Bass and her team replied that once the staff is raised, the fire department’s budget will actually grow.

Nearly 7,000 buildings were destroyed and 12 people were killed after the fire, and both Crowley and the Fire Staff Union described the department as underfunded.

Crowley said in an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on January 10 that her department did not have enough firefighters and lacked enough mechanisms to repair broken emergency vehicles.

Tapper once asked whether the budget cuts hurt her agency’s ability to fight wildfires.

“I want to become very, very clear. Yes,” Crowley replied.

On February 21, the bass expelled Crowley, complaining that she had not heard from the Chief until the fire broke out. She also questioned the Chief’s decision to deploy.

The Times investigation found that LAFD officials chose not to order about 1,000 firefighters to take the second shift in the storm, which would double the staff at hand when it broke out on the morning of January 7.

Freddy Escobar, president of the local 112 joint firefighter in Los Angeles, asserted that the department did not have enough fire trucks and engines for the 1,000 firefighters.

But several former LAFD chief officials told The Times that keeping firefighters on duty would allow the department to send dozens of additional engines to Palisades and other high-risk areas. Firefighters not assigned to other engines will be used for other tasks.

Escobar said Monday that the mayor’s proposed budget is a step in the right direction.

“These are tough decisions that the mayor must make and she is prioritizing the fire department and first responders. We are grateful for that,” he said.

Escobar said the department was “badly” understaffed and underfunded.

The city council must make changes to the mayor’s budget by the end of May and then approve it. Hudley Hayes stressed the need for other mechanisms to ensure firefighting equipment and vehicles are in operation. These mechanisms need to be better compensated so that they don’t leave high-paying positions, she said. The mayor’s budget includes funding for four heavy equipment mechanics and nine mechanical assistants as well as maintenance workers.

The budget also includes a new fire department plan, including the development of a homeless fire and street medicine program that will “provide adequate fire, law enforcement and medical services to individuals of the homeless.” The new plan will consist of more than 50 firefighters and other employees, accounting for 67 of the department’s 227 new positions.

In 2024, 16,742 fires in the city were linked to homeless people, up to 4,124 in 2018, according to the fire department.

City Councilman Traci Park, whose districts include Pacific Palisades and advocates for more fire department funding, said the mayor’s proposal bodes well, but the city should go further.

“It’s in the bucket needed for the actual size of the fire department in Los Angeles, the fire department is the right size,” she said.

Parker noted that the council passed a motion last month exploring a voting measure that would provide additional funding for fire department facilities.

Some Palisades residents also expressed hope to the mayor’s proposal to provide additional resources to the fire department.

Larry Vein has the foundation of Palisades that helps with issues related to Palisades’ fire. Wen’s own house was damaged by smoke in the fire.

“Are many residents frustrated? Is there the right resources allocated in the right place? Do we have enough fire budgets? Maybe not.” “But we have to look forward to it.”

Times worker David Zahniser contributed to the report.