Los Angeles Millionaires Spend $2,000 Per Hour to Combat Wildfires

Mon Jan 13 2025
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Key points

  • LA residents will not be able to return for at least four days
  • California’s fire companies have begun offering “on call” services
  • Officials fear death toll may increase

ISLAMABAD: Los Angeles millionaires pay $2,000 per hour for private firefighters as the overwhelmed city abandons a neighbourhood to the flames.

According to the New York Post, private fire protection firms often contract with state and local governments to help battle wildfires but in recent years California’s fire companies have begun offering “on call” services, ready to show up with their own water supplies, hoses, trucks, fire-quenching chemicals, and other industrial-grade equipment.

Hefty price tag

But these fire fighters come with a hefty price tag, with some outfits charging $2,000 an hour for their services, according to the Daily Mail.

A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle observed one home outfitted with water sprayers continually drenching the roof as specialists stood by all night, watching for flare-ups.

AFP cited officials as saying tens of thousands of people forced from their homes by enormous fires raking Los Angeles will not be able to return for at least four days, officials said Sunday.

Frustrated evacuees have formed lines at checkpoints hoping to get into no-go zones barricaded off amid the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.

Many are desperate to get back to homes they had to flee with just a few moments’ notice to pick up medicines or clothes they did not have a chance to grab.

Fire emergency

Others simply want to find out if their houses have survived.  But Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Sunday that gusting winds forecast this week mean the fire emergency is far from over.

 

california fires 3

“They can’t go home, simply because it’s not safe,” he told a press conference.

“It’s our collective priority… to be able to get residents back in their homes just as quickly as possible.

“That conversation is not going to occur until the end of the predicted red flag event that’s on its way,” he said, referring to the strong winds expected to last until Wednesday.

“Please rest assured that first thing Thursday, we will start talking about repopulation.”

Lines several city blocks long have seen people queuing for up to 11 hours for a short escorted visit to their home in an evacuation zone.

The latest official death toll from the deadly blazes stood at 24, but was expected to rise as search teams with dogs go house to house.  With some input from AFP.

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