As officials investigate what caused Los Angeles’ devastating fires, I know the answer. It was the homeless.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reports that 54% of fires in 2023 were started by homeless. They responded to almost 14,000 fires that year alone related to homelessness. Regardless of whether the Pacific Palisades fire was directly started by a homeless person, the extent of the destruction from the fire can be attributed to the homeless.
A few months ago, a Los Angeles City Council person reported to me that she spends 80% of her time on Los Angeles’ homeless problem—80%! That does not leave much time to focus on the basic needs of the average tax paying Los Angeles resident, such as water, power, sanitation, safety, security, roads, sidewalks, traffic, parks, beaches, schools, firefighting and fire prevention. And when the mayor feels free to jet off to Ghana for a presidential inauguration on the other side of the globe, we cannot assume the other 20% of time is well spent.
In addition, the council passed a budget for this year providing $1.3 billion for homeless-related expenses. The same budget cut spending on the fire department by $17 million.
If the council was focused on what it should have been, it likely would have known that the main reservoir needed to fight fires in Pacific Palisades was under repair and unavailable to provide water to fight fires in the middle of the Santa Ana winds fire season. Firefighters had access to only 3 million gallons of water, which ran out on the first night of fires. The reservoir normally contains 117 million gallons of water. None was available.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the reservoir shut down in February for minor repairs. Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power did not even seek bids for the repair until April. It did not hire a contractor until November. It still is not repaired. Total cost of repair: $130,000, about the cost of a new Mercedes.
Some city officials claim that based on the size of the fire even the reservoir would have run dry. But the fire would never have gotten so big but for the reservoir being inoperable. I have proof.
My Palisades neighborhood (Castellammare) was one of the first to be hit with fire. It turns out that it was a blessing, because firefighters had water to put out the flames. I estimate based upon my inspection that approximately 80% of my neighborhood’s homes were spared. But soon thereafter the water dried up, and surrounding Palisades neighborhoods lost 100% of their homes.
In the second largest city in America, with the third most expensive homes in the wealthiest and highest taxed state in the country, there simply is no excuse for this level of destruction. Over half of the homes in the town of Pacific Palisades are estimated to have been lost. It is prima facie negligence by city leaders.
If Los Angeles simply put the ban back in place, and enforced it, the homeless problem would go away. The problem started when a court barred Los Angeles from enforcing its no-camping law. But that decision was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet, unlike most cities, Los Angeles has not put the ban back in place. Instead, all of Los Angeles is open for camping: sidewalks, parks, beaches, etc. There is a very limited number of designated no camping locations, such as outside a kindergarten. But even those exceptions are now being debated by the council.
Instead, the council and mayor have embarked on a plan to find permanent housing for anyone and everyone on the street, no matter where they come from. In addition to the $1.3 billion budgeted for homeless, a new Los Angeles County sales tax for homeless housing and services will provide another estimated $1.1 billion.
A recent study by the Westside Current found that Los Angeles has acquired 2,750 housing units (condos, apartments, or hotel rooms) at a cost of close to $1 billion. One of the buildings purchased for $36.6 million still had an active website advertising “luxury” apartment featuring “spacious, modern elegance” and “sweeping views of LA.” The units feature balconies and a rooftop deck offering “stunning views of the Hollywood sign …. in a great neighborhood with plenty of restaurants, shops and bars within walking distance, and just minutes from Beverly Hills.” That is double the cost of the fire department budget cut.
The plan has been in place for years but has hardly put a dent in the problem. The word is out that Los Angeles is a good place to go if you want to live outside, so more and more come.
The city council consists of about two-thirds Democrats, one-third Democrat Socialists of America (DSA), and zero Republicans. It uses the homeless problem as an excuse to implement its far-left agenda, which includes rent controls, tenant eviction protections, mansion taxes, free basic income, reparations, sanctuary laws, and free housing for all.
For the ccity’s leaders, basic services that most Angelenos care about, like firefighting, are at the bottom of their list of priorities.
Originally published by California Globe. Republished with permission of the author.
