President of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles County (UFLAC) Freddie Escobar said Monday that L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley made an “operating funds decision” not to pre-deploy in order to avoid paying overtime.
“I’ve been on the board [of the Los Angeles Fire Department] for 17 years, and for years now, for decades, the LAFD has been neglected by its leaders,” Escobar told Breitbart News. “They have not addressed a woefully understaffed fire department. We need 62 new stations; 100 more firefighters and medics, more engines, trucks, medics. We are woefully understaffed.”
Escobar noted that while the fire itself was caused by extreme winds and “the man upstairs,” the scale of the fire was primarily because of the lack of resources, including personnel. He added that the department was reluctant to pay OT.
Mayor Karen Bass’s budget had cut fire department expenditures by $17.5 million and the overtime budget by over $19 million.
While Escobar stated that he didn’t know whether the fire department could have prevented the fire outright, “… more could have helped. … If we had the resources that we’ve been asking for, that we need, in a city that’s been neglected by its leaders for decades.”
On January 6th, the day before the fire started, the decision was made “not to staff every single resource which would give you additional manpower with the field on red flag [high wind] days,” Escobar stated, adding that the Department of Water and Power were also at fault, saying that “[W]e had water issues the entire time. Even on the second day… dry hydrants, or hydrants with little to no pressure.”
Firefighters should be consulted on other issues as well, such as water management and urban planning, when future planning, Escobar said.