The Brief

More than a month before the Palisades Fire, then-Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley issued a dire warning: Her department was woefully understaffed, response times were high, equipment was in disrepair and emergency preparedness was suffering.

It's not clear whether a better funded agency would have slowed the firestorm. Firefighters faced gale force winds of up to 100 mph when the fire broke out.

What is clear is that day-to-day service calls — most of them for medical help — suffer because L.A. has one of the smallest big city fire departments in the country.

“In many ways, the current staffing, deployment model and size of the LAFD has not changed since the 1960s,” Crowley wrote in a November memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners.

The population of the city has grown to more than 3.9 million, from 2.5 million in 1960, but the number of firefighters has not grown proportionately.

Crowley has since been fired by Mayor Karen Bass, who last Friday cited the chief’s failure to increase the number of on-duty firefighters in the hours before the Palisades Fire and her unwillingness to participate in an evaluation of the department’s response to the disaster.

In a statement after her firing, Crowley did not address the Palisades Fire or the mayor’s accusations directly but said she based her actions “on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities.”

But Crowley has not been the only one ringing the alarm that the LAFD is stretched to the limit.

Reports obtained by LAist through public records requests found rescue ambulances and fire trucks from the department’s 106 stations have scrambled from one call to the next with ever-increasing response times in recent years.

“It's not about one budget. It's not about one mayor. It's about decades of neglect of the LAFD,” said Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles. “The 911 caller is going to pay the ultimate sacrifice because we don’t have the resources.”

Kristin Crowley was removed from her position as LAFD chief last week, but she plans to remain with the department.

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Myung J. Chun

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Longer response times

L.A. has just under one firefighter per 1,000 residents. Since 1986, the average number of firefighters in densely populated cities across the country ranged from 1.54 to 1.81 per 1,000, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

As calls for service have increased, so have response times. The overall response time for 90% of calls jumped more than a minute, to 7 minutes and 53 seconds, from 2018 to 2022, according to a 2024 Standards of Cover analysis by the International Association of Firefighters. The IAFF is a labor union of firefighters that also provides analysis of fire operations to local fire departments.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends a 4-minute standard.

Response times are especially complicated in L.A., according to a separate 2023 Standards of Cover report by Citygate Associates. Citygate is a consulting firm that evaluates fire departments across the country.

The challenges include a “hilly topography in some areas, and a public road pattern that, in certain areas, is geographically challenged with rivers, open spaces, and/or a lack of major cross-connecting roadways,” according to the report.

As areas continue to redevelop and add population, the department will need adjustments “just to maintain, much less improve, response times,” the report reads.

Medical calls dominate resources

L.A’s Fire Department responds to more than 500,000 calls for service per year. More than 80% are calls from people who need medical help. The department takes more than 600 people to hospitals every day. It treats hundreds more people on scene, and many of them are unhoused.

The LAFD responds to more than 66,000 calls per year related to the city’s unhoused population, according to the department.

“If we were a hospital, we would have the largest emergency room in the country,” Battalion Chief Eric Roberts said in an interview.

According to the Citygate report, fire trucks are too often busy with medical calls, stretching call times for fires and other calls. The consulting firm recommends expanding the use of lightweight pickup trucks to respond to less serious medical calls and small fires. They’re called fast response vehicles, and the LAFD has three of them.

“The alternative response program needs to scale massively and quickly to lower the workload placed on fire units back down to moderate and serious emergencies,” the Citygate report states. “Well over 100 new non-firefighter personnel must be hired and trained for alternative response measures to meet the service needs of the city.”

The report also recommends staffing 12 to 15 new rescue ambulances and building one new fire station — in the northern San Fernando Valley.

The International Association of Firefighters study recommends adding 32 rescue ambulances and 378 firefighters. In addition, the study recommended adding 62 new fire stations.

Neither study placed a cost on their recommendations.

Personnel by the numbers

Over the past five years, the number of sworn and civilian personnel at the department has stayed relatively constant, rising only slightly to 3,877, from 3,831, according to budget documents. But in the latest budget for the fiscal year that started July 1, 2024, the department lost 58 positions from the year before.

In a December report, Crowley recommended adding 438 positions.

“I think it's important for us to look at what resources do we want to grow,” said Councilmember Tim McOsker, who sits on the city’s Public Safety Committee. “If we have new stations, if we have new apparatus, we need to have persons assigned to them.”

Part of the department’s short staffing problem dates to the 2008 recession, when city tax revenue plummeted. The department lost more than 10% of its positions and mothballed fire trucks.

“We reduced our resources in a way that we have not fully recovered from,” Roberts said.

McOsker agreed.

“Over a number of years — many, many years — we have not put enough money into the Fire Department,” McOsker said, adding that the Palisades Fire has increased urgency. The councilmember, whose District 15 includes San Pedro, Wilmington and Watts, said he thinks “everyone in the city recognizes that it's important to have adequate fire services.”

Calls for increased funding for the Fire Department come as the city faces budget problems. Four months into the fiscal year that began July 1, the city had already overspent its budget by nearly $300 million, according to the city administrative officer.

“We might have to shrink in other areas,” McOsker said.

Councilmember Traci Park, whose District 11 includes the Pacific Palisades, said the city will have to make some hard decisions.

“We can’t keep investing in and doubling down on programs that aren’t getting us results,” Park said. “And I feel like homelessness is a good example of that.”

The question is whether reducing spending on homelessness would increase the burden on the Fire Department.

More from Crowley

Crowley, who has elected to stay with the department in a lower rank, decried the loss of civilian staff and overtime variable staffing hours, warning the reduction has “severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large scale emergencies.”

As the Palisades Fire was burning, Crowley said $17 million in cuts to her department in last year’s budget hampered the department’s response — in part because there are not enough mechanics to fix broken fire trucks.

A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass said the signing of a labor contract that boosted salaries for firefighters and the funding of new equipment resulted in a net increase in funding for the department of $110 million. But Crowley said it still wasn’t enough.

“We are screaming to be properly funded,” Crowley, the first woman and first gay person to lead the department, told a T.V. station during the first few days of the fire.

In that December report, she requested 438 new sworn and civilian positions for her department as part of a 7.6% increase in her operating budget.

Park, meanwhile, is seeking to place a bond measure on next year’s ballot that would increase funding for the Fire Department.

The councilmember’s proposal has been referred to the City Council’s Rules Committee.

LAist Senior Reporter Ted Rohrlich contributed to this report.

The restaurant:

Detroit-style pizza is hard to find in Southern California, given how far away it is from the Motor City.

Angelenos can consider themselves fortunate though to have a spot tucked in West Hollywood — DTown Pizzeria. The pizzeria is owned by Ryan Ososky, the 2025 Pizza Maker of the Year at the International Pizza Expo. He's received numerous honors for his pan pizzas.

The food: 

Oskosky's been all over the map during his time as a chef, and he's worked under the likes of Michael Mina, Charlie Palmer and Wolfgang Puck. After gaining all that experience, he’d eventually start a pizza pop-up in West Hollywood.

“I’m a chef by trade, but I guess I just happen to own a pizzeria and won some awards around it,” Ososky said.

What Austin tried:

• Goomba
• "Haole" aka not Hawaiian
• The 313
• The 1946 cheese

The verdict:

“Excellent puff of flavor in the middle of an excellent pizza, soft crust,” Austin said after trying the pepperoni-topped Goomba slice.

When taking a bite of the 313, Austin said “the pesto on top of this zings it up,” adding, “It stays moist … but it’s got a moist and crisp with soft dough.”

Listen:

Los Angeles Angels legend Garret Anderson has died. The team announced his death today on social media.

The cause and location of his death were not immediately announced.

"Garret was a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons," owner Arte Moreno said in a statement, "and his stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series championship."

Anderson's story is a Southern California one in so many ways. He was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, where he was a three-sport star in baseball, basketball and football. He won All-Los Angeles City and All-League Honors as a junior and helped lead Kennedy's basketball team to an L.A. City Championship.

The Angels drafted him out of high school in 1990, and he made his Major League debut in 1994.

He spent all but two of his 17 Major League seasons with the Halos and was a key player on the 2002 team that won the franchise's first, and still only, World Series.

After the Angels decided not to renew his contract at the end of the 2008 season, Anderson signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2009 before returning to SoCal in 2010, this time as a member of the Dodgers. He spent a single season there before retiring in 2011.

He leads the Angels all-time in a slew of statistics, including games played (2,013), hits (2,368), RBIs (1,292), doubles (489) and several others. He was a three-time All-Star, the 2003 Home Run Derby winner and All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

But Angels fans will probably remember him best for his go-ahead, three-run double in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. It gave the Angels a 4-1 lead, which they never surrendered.

But despite all the accolades, one of the most impressive stats from Anderson's career was his reliability. He had a stretch of eight seasons where he appeared in at least 150 games and played in at least 140 games in 11 of his 17 seasons in the pros.

Shortly after he retired, he joined the Angels television broadcast team to provide pregame and postgame analysis.

The Angels will wear a special "GA" memorial patch on their uniforms for the remainder of the season. They'll also play a tribute and hold a moment of silence in his honor before tonight's game against the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium.

This story first appeared in The LA Local.

For Koreatown resident George Chan, the appeal of public transit in Los Angeles is simple: avoiding the daily grind of driving.

“I don’t like cars, so I’m all for having more public transportation,” said Chan, who lives near Olympic Boulevard and Hobart Street and uses transit about twice a week to get to work in Culver City. “I feel like that’s one of the things L.A. really lacks, a working public transportation system. You go to any other major city and you’re able to take a train anywhere, but here you can’t.”

Even if it takes longer, he said, public transit offers something driving doesn’t.

“I don’t have to sit in traffic. I don’t have to deal with drivers at all,” he said. “I feel pretty comfortable on the train and bus, so it’s not a big deal for me.”

That’s why Chan is looking forward to the opening of the first phase of the Metro D Line extension on May 8, which Koreatown residents like him say will make it easier to reach some of Los Angeles’ most visited cultural hubs without sitting in traffic.

Where things stand

The project, more than a decade in the making, will add three new underground stations along Wilshire Boulevard at La Brea, Fairfax and La Cienega, closing an important gap between Downtown Los Angeles and the Mid-Wilshire area.

From Koreatown, the new stops will put destinations like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the La Brea Tar Pits within roughly a 15- to 20-minute ride from Union Station, offering a faster alternative to driving along one of the city’s most congested corridors. 

Another view of the Wilshire/La Brea Station.

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Courtesy Metro Art

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Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

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Metro projects the new stations will add roughly 16,200 daily riders and increase foot traffic for local businesses. The opening comes more than three years behind its original 2023 timeline and about $700 million over budget, with this part of the project now reaching around $3.51 billion. 

The project is part of Metro’s “Twenty-Eight by ’28” push to finish major transit expansions before the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

For Chan, that could mean easier trips west, whether that’s grabbing brunch near Miracle Mile or visiting museums that currently require multiple transfers.

How residents are feeling

Other residents said the expansion is also expected to reshape how often they use transit, particularly for trips that currently require driving. Davis Read, a Koreatown resident who is a part of the Wilshire Center Koreatown neighborhood council, says he uses Metro about once a week now, but that will likely change once he gets more access to the museums by La Brea. 

“I’m also excited to be able to go to Beverly Hills, where a lot of my medical appointments are,” Read said. “That’s something that was usually like a half-hour drive.”

But while many welcome the expansion, residents say the city still has work to do — especially when it comes to building housing people can actually afford, shortening timelines for major transit projects and improving bus infrastructure.

Sherin Varghese, a Koreatown resident and organizer with Ktown for All, said buses remain essential for many in the neighborhood.

“A lot of our neighbors, housed and unhoused, don’t have cars,” she said. “Building out infrastructure that isn’t car-forward is generally a good move.”

At the same time, she noted that buses, which often serve lower-income riders, have historically been deprioritized.

“I’m really excited about the trains,” Varghese said. “But I also want us to continue investing in bus infrastructure, like dedicated bus lanes that don’t get closed off that aren’t just for rush hour.”

Wilshire/La Brea Metro station remains closed off to the public as of April 14.

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Marina Peña

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The LA Local

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For Varghese, who relies on transit regularly, the D Line will open up parts of the city that currently feel out of reach.

“I’m going to be able to take the D straight to LACMA or to the Academy Museum to see a movie,” she said. “It opens up a huge amount of access to the west side.”

Metro's overall plan

The D Line extension is part of Metro’s broader plan to connect Downtown Los Angeles to Westwood through a nine-mile subway, with future phases expected to open in 2027. Additional stations will include Beverly Drive, Century City, Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital.

Another major project — the K Line Northern Extension — would further expand that network by linking South L.A. to West Hollywood. But with funding not expected until 2041 and an opening still years after that, between 2047 and 2049, many residents say the timeline highlights a broader frustration.

After last-minute negotiations between Mayor Karen Bass and local leaders, Metro’s board voted unanimously in late March to approve the route. The planned underground extension would tie into four major rail lines and is projected to carry up to 100,000 riders daily

“There’s a repeated trend in which these great public projects are having to conform around the needs of wealthy home ownership groups. I think that’s frustrating,” Read said. “I think at this point, we should be pressuring our elected leaders to act quicker on the Metro.”

He pointed to the K Line extension as one example, where opposition from a group of homeowners in Mid-City, particularly in affluent Black neighborhoods like Lafayette Square, raised concerns about construction, safety and property values, contributing to delays.

“That’s the most important stitch in the Metro system — it would be a game changer,” Read said. “A two-seat ride to LAX from Koreatown or downtown would make a huge difference. Right now, it takes about three lines and can take just as long as driving in traffic.”

The Wilshire/Fairfax station where the D line and K line would meet is expected to add 33,000 riders, according to Metro.

Residents ask: Why'd it take this long

Varghese, who has lived in Koreatown for 15 years, said her frustration is less about the current timeline and more about missed opportunities in the past.

“I wish we had started this 50 years ago,” she said. “But I’m glad it’s happening now.”

Alongside transit improvements, residents also raised concerns about what new development around stations will look like, particularly whether it will include housing that current residents can afford.

“A lot of the housing is built for upscale renters,” he said. “If they built low-income or cheaper housing, that would be great, but that’s not what’s happening.”

Read said transit and housing need to be planned together.

“If we don’t act drastically to construct new housing, we’re never going to dig ourselves out of this crisis,” he said.

Varghese echoed that concern, pointing to what she sees as a gap between policy goals and what’s actually being built.

“We need to build housing that people can actually afford now,” she said. “We need to be affecting the supply directly and not hoping that housing eventually trickles down in terms of pricing.”

The post ‘I wish we had started this 50 years ago’: Koreatown is ready for Metro’s D Line appeared first on LA Local.