Los Angeles firefighters have repeatedly warned that rising call volumes and chronic understaffing are slowing their response times, and new data shows one major driver — encampment fires.
Every time the L.A. Fire Department responds to a blaze, crews must file a report and mark whether it was “Homeless or Encampment Related.” A records request for every such fire since 2020 returned a staggering total — more than 75,000 incidents.
The numbers fluctuate month-to-month, but the trend is unmistakable. In 2020, LAFD logged 7,165 homeless-related fires…