LA’s rich & famous hiring $2,000-an-hour private firefighters to protect million-dollar homes & businesses sparking fury
LA’S rich and famous are hiring $2,000-an-hour private firefighters to save their million-dollar homes and businesses as the wildfires rage on.
As the flames continue to force thousands out of their homes, some celebs and billionaires have sparked backlash for their “tone-deaf” move to save their investments.
Keith Wasserman, co-founder of real estate investment firm Gelt Venture Partners, provoked fury after a post on X, in which he asked for “private firefighters” to protect his land in the A-list neighbourhood of the Pacific Palisades.
The region has been devastated by the ongoing inferno with emergency services still struggling to contain the fires there.
Keith’s post on Friday read: “Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades?
“Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount. Thank you.”
The billionaire owns a mansion in the wealthy area, as well as an upscale outdoor mall, which he is trying to protect from raging fires.
Social media users criticized Keith, slamming his call for help as “incredibly tone deaf”.
Commenter Sam Vance wrote: “Incredible nerve. His family is evacuated and he’s trying to hire private firefighters to risk their lives to save a home he most certainly has insured.
“Incredibly tone deaf.”
User Renny added: “So you’re suggesting that potentially lifesaving resources (even if ‘private’) should be diverted to save your house because you’re rich while tens of thousands of people try to evacuate?”
Keith hit back at those commenting on his post online dubbing them “trolls”.
Billionaire developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso is also receiving backlash online after it was reported that had hired private fire crews to protect his properties in the Palisades Village.
Rick served two stints as president of the Department of Water and Power and owns a mansion in the area as well as a luxury mall.
He confirmed that he had a team of private firefighters deployed in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday night to protect his retail space but that water was in short supply.
This outraged many who believed that water supplies were not being fairly disrupted to help save people’s lives and homes in the area with some online calling for an investigation to be launched.
On Wednesday, a video shared to X showed private firefighters guarding a home, and using sprinklers to fight the flames.
San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporter Matthias Gafni said: “They’ve set up sprinklers to cascade water from the second story eaves.”
It comes as:
- At least 13 people still missing with four blazes out of control
- Residents got trapped in gridlock traffic trying to escape
- First details of victims in LA wildfires emerge
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make surprise LA appearance
- Former Aussie child actor tragically killed in wildfire
- A-lister celebs battled to get rooms in LA
She also noted that the crew were expected to guard the home all night to protect the owner’s property.
Company Covered 6, who offer fire protection services and safety training to the Hollywood elite, revealed that they had been inundated with calls.
Owner Chris Dunn told the Mail on Sunday: “My phone has been ringing off the hook. Demand has never been higher.”
One wealthy source said: “This week’s events have shown you can’t trust the city to protect your property.
However, some have argued that if the city cannot be trusted to protect people, then celebs have every right to seek private support.
The source added:”I have the money, so why not?”
Private firefighters are not uncommon in LA with Kim Kardashian admitting that her home in Hidden Hills California was saved by private crews in the 2013 wildfires.
In 2019, private firefighting companies started offering “on-call” wildfire protection to wealthy Californians in the face of increasing blazes of greater intensity.
In 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that some private crews were failing to coordinate with local agencies.
This meant that first responders were left having to worry about private crews as well as the residents in threatened areas.
Strict water-conserving measures have been in place since 2022, with residents restricted to watering their gardens twice a week for eight minutes at a time.
Kim has been fined previously for going over her water allowance in 2022, by using 232,000 gallons of water more than her allocation.
Other celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and comedian Kevin Hart were also fined.
It has since been noted that Kim has since installed water-saving measures.
One neighbor of Ms Kardashin said: “Everyone was told to cut back on water precisely for this situation, to preserve it to fight fires.
“They carried on watering because they could afford the fines.”
LA DEVASTATION
This comes as the devastating fires continue to rip through Los Angeles, displacing thousands and resulting in unseen damage to the area.
Some 153,000 LA residents are now under mandatory evacuation orders as wind gusts as high as 80mph are set to hit in the next few days – making it even more difficult to contain the blazes.
The wildfires are thought to have killed at least 16 people so far.
Four wildfires are currently burning around Los Angeles with two of to others now being described as contained.
The Palisades fire is the biggest of all and has so far burned down 22,660 acres of land destroying more than 5,316 structures.
Firefighters have only been able to contain 11 per cent of the fire, according to the LA Fire Department.
High winds have caused the Palisades Fire in Southern California to spread towards the east.
LA‘s fire chief Kristin Crowley said last night saw a “significant flare up” in parts of the Palisades Fire tragedy.
The chief added that “we will be facing another critical weather event” due to the high winds as the flames continue to starch the region.