Following the horrific Palisades and Eaton fires that claimed 29 lives, a 2023 lawsuit demanding equitable compensation and enough staffing in the Los Angeles Fire Department has been rekindled.
Local officials were criticized for their role in the fire department’s understaffing and underfunding when the flames broke out in Southern California a few weeks ago. In an effort to move their concerns forward before a meeting of the LA City Council, lawyers and firefighters involved in the February 2023 lawsuit held a press conference on Tuesday to make sure firefighters are receiving proper compensation.
Daniel Gonzalez, a 21-year member of the Los Angeles Fire Department, stated, “This lawsuit is just about getting every single one of those firefighters paid properly for the time that we are away from our families risking our lives for the citizens of Los Angeles.”
According to Gonzalez, firemen usually perform 24-hour shifts. Many of them are being called back to work 25 and a half hours, but they are not receiving enough compensation for the additional time because of understaffing. According to Oshea Orchid of Sethi Orchid Miners, understaffing is the reason why firefighters are being asked to put in more hours.
“It used to be not such a big issue but now the department is severely understaffed and we’re seeing that being a serious problem in our city and we are here to talk about the issue that we need to pay them fairly and we need to staff the fire department,” Orchid continued.
According to a department memo, Kristin Crowley, the city’s fire chief, stated that budget constraints were limiting the department’s capacity to respond to emergencies approximately a month before to the fires starting.
According to city budget data, the city’s fire department’s funding dropped by $17.6 million, or 2%, between the fiscal years 2024–2025 and 2023–2024. However, using funds from the general fund of the budget, the city council in November authorized a four-year, $203 million deal with the firefighter’s union to assist increase personnel pay and health benefits.
Public outrage increased as the fires killed people and damaged thousands of buildings.
Crowley informed the Board of Fire Commissioners in a memo dated December 4 that the expenditure cuts “have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.”
Mayor Karen Bass stated during a press conference held during the flames that the department’s capacity to manage the continuing fires was unaffected by budget cuts.
“There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days,” Bass stated. She also highlighted the extra money the department will get under the city’s union contract.
Conflict seems to result from Crowley and Bass’ divergent remarks regarding the effects of budget cuts.
Orchid and her customers expect that the requirements of the department and firefighters will be given priority by the LA City Council.
“I hope that the city council takes a look at this seriously and takes some steps to make sure that all of our 3,000 firefighters get paid properly,” Gonzalez stated.