Los Angeles Fire Chief Warned That Mayor Karen Bass’s Budget Cuts Limited Wildfire Response: ‘At Risk of Reduced Effectiveness’
9th January 2025
Just weeks before five wildfires engulfed the City of Angels, Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley warned that Mayor Karen Bass’s (D.) budget cuts to her department “severely limited” its response to wide-scale emergencies—including wildfires.
In a memo dated Dec. 4, Crowley wrote that Bass’s $7 million reduction to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s overtime budget “severely limited the department’s ability to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires, earthquakes, hazardous material incidents, and large public events.” All told Bass cut more than $17 million from the fire department this year, according to the enacted budget, although she initially proposed slashing nearly $23 million.
“These budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations,” such as training and fire prevention, Crowley wrote in her memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners, which is comprised of mayoral appointees. “Specialized programs and resources, such as Air Operations, Tactical EMS Units, Disaster Response, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), which rely heavily on [overtime], are now at risk of reduced effectiveness.”