‘Beyond the brink’: Data shows LA Fire Department among the most understaffed in America

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.

Less than a month before fires swept across Los Angeles, a group of longtime firefighters gathered at City Hall to plead for more resources. They were at a “breaking point,” one said. Another revealed that million-dollar fire trucks sat idle because budget cuts had shrunk the number of mechanics available to fix them. “I’m going to say what people can’t say,” said Freddy Escobar, president of the city’s fire union and a veteran firefighter. “If we cut one position, if we close one station … the residents of Los Angeles are going to pay the ultimate sacrifice, and someone will die.” The firefighters’ concerns over resources, it seems, weren’t off the mark. 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. Up the coast from LA, the city of San Francisco boasts more than 1,800 firefighters for around 1.5 million residents of the city and nearby communities, while LA has roughly 3,500 firefighters allotted to serve a city of nearly 4 million. 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.