Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristen Crowley spoke at a press conference last Friday, addressing the budget cuts and elimination of supportive positions within the LAFD, and their impact on combating the devastating wildfires in the city. She subsequently held a closed-door meeting with Mayor Karen Bass in response.
Crowley emphasized that she had been warning about the insufficient resources for the LAFD “from the beginning,” and how it had “definitely had a negative impact” on the department’s ability to combat wildfires. “The $17 million budget cuts and the elimination of supportive positions such as mechanics have had and will continue to have a serious impact on our ability to repair equipment,” she told CNN.
“I also want to make it clear that I have been expressing the need for help for the past three years,” Crowley said. “We cannot sustain the current situation. We don’t have enough firefighters.”
When questioned by a reporter from Fox11 about whether the city of Los Angeles had failed to support the department, Crowley responded with a simple, “yes.”
These statements led to a closed-door meeting on Friday afternoon between Crowley and Mayor Bass at City Hall. Originally scheduled to jointly release updates on the local fires, only Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell ended up speaking at the briefing. Following the conclusion of the closed-door meeting, a representative of the mayor’s office informed reporters that Crowley had not been fired or resigned, and she remained the Chief of the LAFD.
Mayor Bass and the city council have faced criticism for the $17 million budget cut to the LAFD. According to a memorandum from Crowley in December, the operating budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year was $819 million, a decrease of about 2% from the previous fiscal year.
The memorandum highlighted that the LAFD was facing unprecedented operational challenges due to the elimination of crucial supportive positions and a $7 million reduction in overtime compensation for shift-adjusted personnel. These budget cuts have had adverse effects on the department’s ability to maintain core operations, including technical and communication infrastructure, payroll processing, training, fire prevention, and community education.
However, according to city government documents, since the $12.8 billion city budget was passed on July 1, 2024, the operating budget for the fire department has continued to increase and is expected to exceed $950 million. Nevertheless, Crowley stated that the department still had to trim some positions.
City officials maintain that their spending will ultimately increase the LAFD’s operating budget for this fiscal year.
During the city’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget deliberations, Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield chaired the Budget and Finance Committee. A spokesperson for Blumenfield told the Los Angeles Daily News that the overall budget for the fire department had been increased by approximately $53 million.
The spokesperson explained that $76 million allocated for regular personnel pay was set aside in a fund separate from the LAFD’s general account during budget approval, as the city council was negotiating with the LAFD union representatives at the time.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times on January 9, after accounting for all categories, the overall overtime costs for the LAFD have actually increased by nearly $18 million in this year’s budget. Matt Szabo, who assists in preparing the city budget at the Mayor’s office, told the Los Angeles Times that the budget cuts had not limited the number of firefighters involved in combating the Palisades fire or their working hours.
At a press conference on January 8, Mayor Bass told reporters that no measures cutting funding would “impact the situations we have faced in the past few days.”
The City Auditor Kenneth Mejia’s office stated that as part of the department’s operating budget cuts, 61 supportive positions were eliminated, including 3 project-based positions (positions aimed at projects with limited terms or funding).
In November 2024, the City Council and Mayor Bass approved a $203 million contract with the union representing formal LAFD employees. Members of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles, including firefighters, captains, equipment operators, engineers, and helicopter pilots, will see a 3% annual wage increase, with a total 12% increase by the 2027-2028 fiscal year. Their health benefits will also increase by 5% annually.
The government report stated that the agreement would cost about $76 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, with an expected cost of $39.4 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year, $45.4 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year, and $42.2 million in 2027.