The ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles highlight a stark divide between the wealthy and the less affluent, with a clear disparity in their ability to protect their homes during the crisis.
Surprisingly, some homes have managed to escape the devastation, thanks to their ability to hire private firefighters.
According to a New York Times report, on one side of Monument Street in Pacific Palisades, the remnants of multimillion-dollar homes are reduced to rubble and ash, while on the other, the Palisades Village shopping centre, home to high-end brands like Chanel and Buck Mason, stands largely untouched.
Pacific Palisades, nestled between Malibu and Santa Monica, is home to many celebrities and wealthy residents. It is not just the shopping malls like Palisades Village that have hired private firefighters, but individual homeowners too.
As public fire services worked to control the fires, teams of private firefighters were seen in the area, riding in white pickup trucks and safeguarding properties.
A key issue in the ongoing debate over private firefighting is access to water, particularly whether these private teams should be allowed to use public hydrants during a wildfire. Critics have raised concerns about this practice, especially as many hydrants ran dry during the early hours of the Los Angeles fires when the demand for water from both city and county firefighters was at its peak.
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According to Deborah Miley, executive director of the National Wildfire Suppression Association, which represents over 300 private firefighting groups, around 45% of all firefighters in the United States are employed privately. Most of these firefighters work as government contractors, assisting local firefighting teams in battling wildfires when required.
As the current fires continue to wreak havoc, the reliance on private firefighters in affluent areas raises significant questions about the city’s preparedness and the growing divide between rich and poor communities when it comes to disaster response.
Private firefighting gained media attention in 2018 when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West hired a team to protect their mansion from the Woolsey fire. Despite criticism from some who viewed it as an unfair advantage, Kardashian defended the use of private firefighters, claiming they also saved nearby homes.
