section_path: Background/Human contributing factors/Local firefighting budgets
section_name: Local firefighting budgets
paragraph_text: Local firefighting budgets
  
  The budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), one of several departments fighting the fires, was reduced by $17.6 million, or two percent, for the fiscal year 2024 – 2025. On December 4, 2024, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that the reduction has "adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations" and that the $7 million reduction in overtime hours "severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies" and affected inspections of residences and brush clearance. After the budget was passed, another $111 million in pay raises and equipment was added, thereby increasing the operating budget from the previous year.
  
  Simultaneously, the price and length of delays for firefighting vehicles significantly increased in recent years due to corporate concentration. Multiple major fire departments across the United States are reporting difficulties with acquiring new fire trucks due to price increases.
  
  The budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), one of several departments fighting the fires, was reduced by $17.6 million, or two percent, for the fiscal year 2024 – 2025. On December 4, 2024, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that the reduction has "adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations" and that the $7 million reduction in overtime hours "severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies" and affected inspections of residences and brush clearance. After the budget was passed, another $111 million in pay raises and equipment was added, thereby increasing the operating budget from the previous year.
  
  Simultaneously, the price and length of delays for firefighting vehicles significantly increased in recent years due to corporate concentration. Multiple major fire departments across the United States are reporting difficulties with acquiring new fire trucks due to price increases.