Private firefighters being called in to protect property in LA

LOS ANGELES (AZFamily) — The deadly wildfires in and around Los Angeles have devastated families and destroyed neighborhoods.

They’re also sparking outrage over reports that wealthy homeowners are hiring private firefighters from Arizona and other communities to protect their property, for thousands of dollars a day.

The New York Times is reporting that at least one Arizona company was hired to go to LA to protect a swanky shopping center in the Pacific Palisades.

One homeowner received backlash for posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, asking for private firefighters to protect his home.

Some called him “incredibly tone deaf” and commented, “Must be nice to be rich.”

Arizona’s Family spoke to former Phoenix firefighter Damon Bruns, who now runs a private fire protection company in Phoenix called WildFire Protec.

He says some of the stories coming out of LA are a little misleading since the majority of private fire crews work through government contracts or insurance companies that want to protect their investments and avoid hefty payouts.

Bruns said most contracts are signed long before a fire breaks out and require everything from creating defensible space around a home to pretreating a home with fire retardant.

“Preplanning and prevention is the key to any type of fire incident,” said Bruns. “There’s fire retardant out there that you can do a pre-spray, so to speak, before fire season in leu of that helping if something does occur,” he said.

Most private firefighting companies do not work directly with homeowners, but a few do, and that’s what’s drawing criticism in Los Angeles.

Back in 2018, California passed a law that requires contracted firefighters to coordinate with commanders on site, but questions have come up about whether they should be allowed to access public hydrants.

Dan Freiberg is the president of the Professional Firefighters of Arizona. He thinks every homeowner should be treated equally.

“We’re just happy to serve people,” said Freiberg. “It doesn’t matter to us what political class you are in, what level of wealth you have, or don’t have. All these socioeconomic factors. We don’t care. You dial 911. We made a promise we will show up and deliver.”

Freiberg said that Arizona fire districts are facing severe funding shortages, and lawmakers need to do a better job with staffing and equipment to avoid a potential wildfire disaster in Arizona.

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