Seven months before the uncontrolled Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, the city’s fire department budget for this fiscal year was cut by more than $17.5 million, records show.
Mayor Karen Bass signed the City of Los Angeles’ budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The total budget for the city’s fire department was $819.64 million.
The graphic also showed that the city’s police department budget increased by $126 million.
More than 7,500 firefighters have been deployed to battle at least six major wildfires dotted around the Los Angeles area, along with several smaller blazes.
The budget for the city’s fire department this fiscal year was reduced by more than $17.5 million, according to records, seven months prior to the uncontrolled Palisades Fire in Los Angeles.
The 2024–2025 fiscal year budget for the City of Los Angeles was signed by Mayor Karen Bass. The city’s fire department had a total budget of $819.64 million.
The LAFD’s total budget for the previous fiscal year was $837.2 million, according to records. The entire budget covers equipment, expenses, and salaries.
Here are some ways to assist the victims of CA Fires.
Kenneth Mejia, the city’s controller, confirmed the fire department’s budget cut by $17.6 million in October with a graphic on X. The city’s police department budget went up by $126 million, as the graphic also revealed.
In June, Bass issued a statement saying, “This budget serves as a reset, in part by continuing to hire for critical positions including police officers and firefighters while eliminating some of the department’s vacant positions, thereby prioritizing our City family over empty desks.”.
Amidst exceptionally dry and windy conditions, multiple fires have erupted throughout Southern California, resulting in at least five fatalities and numerous injuries.
Over 7,500 firefighters have been sent in to fight at least six large wildfires and a number of smaller ones that are scattered throughout the Los Angeles region.
