Fire Engines Photos

Standard specification Los Angeles pumper, with 1500 USGPM pump. Although the city has a few other makes, including some of the last American La France units, the vast majority of the fleet are Pierces.

Added by Rob Johnson on 10 January 2023.

Recent news articles coming out of Los Angeles repeat the fact that, based on population alone, and ignoring the unparalleled danger of wildland interface fires such as the recent - and ongoing - ones the LA City fire department has less than 50% of the staff numbers required to adequately protect the city. A recent analysis reported that the city needed to add over 90 additional strategically located fire stations, fully staffed and equipped, to meet required standards of fire protection.

And it should be noted that this was BEFORE taking into consideration the additional extreme danger of brush fires. These require different equipment including aerial as well as road tankers - and much greater additional manpower to tackle incidents in steep inaccessible hillsides in and around the city. This situation was clearly identified by local fire chiefs immediately after the infamous Bel Air fire in 1961, which destroyed close to 500 homes. The city has had sixty years to develop a satisfactory fire suppression plan. But it has instead allowed extensive building construction into these hillsides - without any meaningful strengthening of the fire department or any of the municipal resources to support it.



Added by Rob Johnson on 24 January 2025.

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