Damaged engines didn’t affect Palisades firefight. But they point to a larger problem

After the Palisades hearth ignited, high brass on the Los Angeles Hearth Division have been fast to say that they have been hampered by damaged hearth engines and a scarcity of mechanics to repair them.

If the roughly 40 hearth engines that have been within the store had been repaired, they mentioned, the battle towards what turned out to be one of many costliest and most harmful disasters in Los Angeles historical past might need unfolded in a different way.

Then-Hearth Chief Kristin Crowley cited the disabled engines as a purpose hearth officers didn’t dispatch extra personnel to fire-prone areas because the winds escalated, and why they despatched residence firefighters who confirmed as much as assist because the blaze raged uncontrolled. The division, she mentioned, ought to have had thrice as many mechanics.

However lots of the damaged engines highlighted by LAFD officers had been out of service for a lot of months and even years — and never essentially for a scarcity of mechanics, based on a Instances overview of engine work orders as of Jan. 3, 4 days earlier than the fireplace.

What’s extra, the LAFD had dozens of different engines that might have been staffed and deployed upfront of the fireplace.

As an alternative, the service data level to a broader downside: town’s longtime reliance on an ageing fleet of engines.

Properly over half of the LAFD’s hearth engines are due to get replaced. In line with an LAFD report introduced to town Hearth Fee final month, 127 out of 210 hearth engines — 60% — and 29 out of 60 ladder vehicles — 48% — are working past their really helpful lifespans.

“It simply hasn’t been a precedence,” mentioned Frank Líma, basic secretary treasurer of the Worldwide Assn. of Hearth Fighters who can be an LAFD captain, including that frontline rigs are “getting pounded like by no means earlier than” because the variety of 911 calls will increase.

Meaning officers are relying closely on reserve engines — older autos that can be utilized in emergencies or when common engines are within the store. The objective is to make use of not more than half of these autos, however for the final three years, LAFD has used, on common, 80% of the vehicles, engines and ambulances in reserve, based on the Hearth Fee report.

“That’s indicative of a fleet that’s simply getting older,” mentioned Assistant Chief Peter Hsiao, who oversees LAFD’s provide and upkeep division, in an interview with The Instances.

“As our fleet will get older, the repairs turn into harder,” Hsiao informed the Hearth Fee. “We’re now doing issues like rebuilding suspensions, rebuilding pump transmissions, rebuilding transmissions, engine overhauls.”

The issue stems from long-term funding challenges, Hsiao mentioned within the interview, with the division receiving various quantities of cash every year that should be divvied up amongst competing tools wants.

“For those who extrapolate that over an extended time frame, then you find yourself in a scenario the place we’re,” he mentioned.

To make issues worse, Hsiao mentioned, the worth of recent engines and vehicles has doubled for the reason that pandemic. Engines that value $775,000 just a few years in the past at the moment are pushing $1.5 million — and it takes three years or extra to construct them, he mentioned.

The variety of hearth engine producers has additionally declined.

Just lately, the IAFF requested the U.S. Division of Justice and the Federal Commerce Fee to research a consolidation in emergency automobile producers that it mentioned has resulted in skyrocketing prices and “brutal” wait occasions. In a letter, the IAFF mentioned that not less than two dozen firms have been rolled up into simply three foremost producers.

Firefighters battle the Palisades hearth on El Medio Avenue on Jan. 7 in Pacific Palisades.

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Instances)

“These issues have decreased the readiness of fireside departments to reply to emergencies, with dire penalties for public security,” the letter mentioned.

The IAFF is the mum or dad group of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles Metropolis, the native union representing LAFD firefighters. IAFF has been working the native labor group since suspending its high officers final month over allegations of monetary impropriety.

Hsiao mentioned the LAFD’s fleet is well-maintained, and engines don’t typically break down.

However the age and situation of the fleet may deteriorate additional, even with an infusion of money to purchase new tools, as a result of the wait occasions are so lengthy.

Mayor Karen Bass’ workplace has beforehand mentioned that she secured $51 million final yr to buy 10 hearth engines, 5 vehicles, 20 ambulances and different tools. The 2025-26 funds handed by the Metropolis Council final month consists of practically $68 million for 10 hearth engines, 4 vehicles, 10 ambulances and a helicopter, amongst different tools, the mayor’s workplace mentioned.

“The Mayor’s Workplace is working with new management at LAFD to make sure that new autos are bought in a well timed method and put into service,” a spokesperson mentioned in an electronic mail.

A majority of the Hearth Division’s funds goes towards pay and advantages for its greater than 3,700 staff, most of them firefighters.

Members of the Los Angeles Hearth Division fill the council chambers to indicate help for former Hearth Chief Kristin Crowley, who was at Metropolis Corridor March 4 to enchantment her termination to the Los Angeles Metropolis Council after Mayor Karen Bass fired her as head of the Hearth Division. Below town constitution, Crowley would wish the help of 10 of the 15 council members to be reinstated as chief.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Instances)

Regardless of town’s monetary troubles, firefighters secured 4 years of pay raises final yr via negotiations with Bass. And firefighters typically make far more than their base pay, with about 30% of the LAFD’s payroll prices going to additional time, based on town’s payroll database. Firefighters and hearth captains every earned a median of $73,500 in additional time final yr, on high of a median base wage of about $140,100, the info present.

Líma mentioned that whereas new engines might be helpful, “a one-year little infusion doesn’t assist a systemic downside that’s developed over many years.” Requested whether or not firefighters would defer raises, he mentioned they “shouldn’t fund the Hearth Division off the backs of their salaries.”

The Nationwide Hearth Safety Assn. recommends that fireside engines transfer to order standing after 15 years and out of the fleet altogether after 25 years.

However many bigger cities have to act sooner, “due to the fixed put on and tear metropolis tools takes,” mentioned Marc Bashoor, a former hearth chief who now trains firefighters throughout the nation, in an electronic mail. “In my view, 10 years is OLD for metropolis equipment.”

Bashoor additionally famous that incorporating quite a lot of manufacturers right into a fleet, because the LAFD does, can improve restore occasions.

“When a hearth division doesn’t have a standardized fleet, departments sometimes are unable to inventory sufficient … elements to suit each model,” he mentioned in an electronic mail. “They then have to seek out the half or use a third occasion, which may considerably delay repairs.”

Of the roughly 40 engines within the store earlier than the Palisades hearth, three have been in-built 1999. Hsiao mentioned engines that outdated are sometimes used for coaching and don’t reply to calls.

These which can be too outdated or broken from collisions or fires to ever return to metropolis streets generally stay within the yard to allow them to be stripped for elements or used for coaching. Some are stored as proof in lawsuits.

In line with the service data reviewed by The Instances, a piece order was opened in 2023 for a 2003 engine burned in a hearth, with notes saying “strip for salvage.” A 2006 engine broken in an accident was ready for elements, based on notes related to a piece order from final April. Two 2018 engines have been broken in collisions, together with one with “heavy injury” to the rear physique that needed to be towed in, based on notes for an order from final July. Different orders famous oil leaks or issues with head gaskets.

Virtually 30 of the engines that have been out of service earlier than the fireplace — 70% on the record — have been 15 or extra years outdated, previous what town considers an applicable lifespan. Solely a dozen had work orders that have been three months outdated or much less. That included three newer engines — two in-built 2019 and one in 2020 — whose service data confirmed they have been ready for “guarantee” repairs.

After the fireplace, LAFD union officers echoed Crowley’s fleet upkeep considerations. Freddy Escobar, who was then president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles Metropolis, blamed persistent underfunding.

“The LAFD doesn’t have the funding mechanism to produce sufficient mechanics and sufficient cash for the elements to restore these engines, the vehicles, the ambulances,” Escobar informed KTLA-TV.

The problems date again greater than a decade. A 2019 report confirmed that LAFD’s tools was much more outdated on the time, with 136 of 216 engines, or 63%, due for alternative, in addition to 43 of 58 ladder vehicles, or 74%. In a report from 2012, LAFD officers mentioned they didn’t have sufficient mechanics to maintain up with the workload.

“Of paramount concern is the Division’s ageing and fewer dependable fleet, a rising backlog of deferred repairs, and elevated upkeep expense,” the 2012 report mentioned, including that mechanics have been primarily doing emergency repairs as an alternative of preventative upkeep.

LAFD’s tools and operations have been beneath heightened scrutiny for the reason that Palisades hearth erupted Jan. 7, destroying 1000’s of properties and killing 12 individuals, with many saying that officers have been severely unprepared.

A complete of 18 firefighters are sometimes on obligation on the two hearth stations within the Palisades — Stations 23 and 69 — to reply to emergencies. Solely 14 of them are routinely accessible to combat brush fires, The Instances beforehand reported. The opposite 4 are assigned to ambulances on the two stations, though they may assist with evacuations or rescues throughout fires.

The Palisades hearth burns alongside Pacific Coast Freeway in Malibu.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances)

LAFD officers didn’t pre-deploy any engines to the Palisades forward of the fireplace, regardless of warnings about excessive climate, a Instances investigation discovered. In making ready for the winds, the division staffed solely 5 of greater than 40 engines accessible to complement the common firefighting power.

These working engines may have been pre-positioned within the Palisades and elsewhere, as had been finished prior to now throughout comparable climate.

Lower than two months after the fireplace, Bass dismissed Crowley, citing the chief’s pre-deployment choices as one of many causes.

Bass has rejected the concept there was any connection between reductions on the division and town’s response to the wildfires.

In the meantime, the variety of mechanics on the job hasn’t modified a lot lately, fluctuating between 64 and 74 since 2020, based on data launched by the LAFD in January. As of this yr, the company had 71 mechanics.

In line with its report back to the Hearth Fee, the LAFD doesn’t have sufficient mechanics to keep up and restore its fleet, primarily based on the common variety of hours the division mentioned it takes to keep up a single automobile.

Final yr, the report mentioned, mechanics accomplished 31,331 of 32,317 work requests, or 97%. To date this yr, they’ve accomplished 62%, based on the report.

“With a better variety of mechanics, we will cut back the delays. Nevertheless, a restricted facility measurement, elements availability, and guarantee repairs compound the difficulty,” LAFD mentioned in an unsigned electronic mail.

Particular correspondent Paul Pringle contributed to this report.