Firefighters' Union President Says L.A. Leaders Understaffed the Fire Department

Freddie Escobar, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles County (UFLAC), stated to Breitbart News on Monday that the Palisades Fire highlighted ongoing neglect of Los Angeles by its leadership.

From Breitbart News
“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,” he said. “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 said the disaster itself was the result of extreme winds and “the man upstairs.” But the sheer scale of the fire — some 24,000 acres burned by the Palisades Fire alone, plus an additional 14,000 acres burned by the Eaton Fire on the eastern side of the city — was the result of a lack of resources, especially personnel, in the hours before the fire.

“Prevented? I don’t know,” he said. “But 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.”