LA relied on teen volunteers for years despite fire chief's warning, but leaders can't be sued: lawyer
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned board members in writing two years ago that her department needed to create a pair of fully staffed crews dedicated to clearing brush and maintaining wildfire lines to bolster the part-time team it had, consisting of mostly young volunteers.
But despite her plea for funding, the City Council authorized only a fraction of it and hiring stalled, caught up in the red tape of L.A. bureaucracy, according to a new report.
While some residents have sued the government over alleged missteps that played a role in the expansion of the devastating wildfires this month, residents have little recourse beyond electing new city leadership, according to a local lawyer whose clients include homeowners looking elsewhere for relief after the fires leveled their communities.
"It’s a political disaster and may result in Bass being recalled," Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based attorney who is representing multiple local clients in lawsuits in the aftermath of the destruction, said about Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. "But there is nothing that can be done legally."
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Despite the missed warning, city leaders are likely immune from civil litigation under state laws that protect authorities from liability, Rahmani said.
"Government entities have broad immunity under the Government Code and can’t be sued for failing to prevent fires," he told Fox News Digital. "The lawsuits against the City and DWP will be dismissed."
The chief's memo, written in January 2023, was first reported by the Washington Post.
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"The one significant area of weakness in our arsenal is that of a regularly staffed wildland hand crew," Crowley wrote to the Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners, asking for a full-time staff of professionals. The city had been relying on mutual aid from the state and county, both of which had staffing shortages, and a volunteer "Cadet Crew" that consisted mostly of teens and young adults led by active firefighters.
"The wildland hand crew is the make-or-break resource in ensuring fire lines are strong and secure," she added. "Without this resource methodically creating and supporting [a] fire line on a wildland fire, weakness in the line can mean the [difference] in containment or out of control spread."
Crowley also warned that increased construction in fire-prone areas was among the factors that "dramatically increased" the threat of wildfires in Los Angeles in recent decades, in addition to the Santa Ana winds and climate change.
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The Cadet Crew met twice a week with between 10 and 26 people, working on labor-intensive projects like clearing brush. The program was designed to train future firefighters, and as a result, suffered high turnover as members were hired into the department and transferred to other units, Crowley wrote.
"The LAFD will need to expand staffing to meet the demands of a new normal, year-long fire season and a rapidly decreasing availability of mutual aid/auto aid Hand Crews State wide," she wrote.
She urged the board to create two new hand crews, staffed with a handful of firefighters and dozens of paid fire suppression aids that would cover the city for seven days a week. She asked for $7 million to get it done, with nearly $4 million for salaries and the rest for a fleet of vehicles to carry them to the front lines over rugged terrain.
While some of the money has been approved and hiring is underway, the crews are reportedly not yet operational.
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The fire department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
While city officials may be safe from legal repercussions, separate lawsuits against insurance companies and those who may have been responsible for igniting the wildfires remain on the table, Rahmani said.
"The only real viable case is against Edison," he told Fox News Digital.
Southern California Edison, a utility company, is facing several lawsuits alleging that its equipment helped start the Eaton Fire, which has scorched northern parts of Los Angeles County, including Altadena. Rahmani's firm is involved in the litigation against the utility and is also representing victims with insurance claims and seeking aid from government programs pro bono, he said.
The Palisades Fire, which tore through the Pacific Palisades community, is being described as the most destructive wildfire in the history of Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.