Wednesday, May 11, 2011

City of Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department Faces Permanent Cuts

Via a radio report from Southern California Public Radio:
Facing the worst budget deficit in decades, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has proposed deep cuts to the city’s fire department. His plan would permanently close nearly 30 fire trucks and paramedic units, and would shrink the department by more than 300 firefighters. Fire officials who designed the plan promise that it would maintain public safety. Critics predict that it’ll lead to unnecessary deaths.

Fire Captain Jaime Moore said department personnel analyzed more than a million calls for help to craft a plan that would safely scale back the department. “We had to take a very good look at the way we operated," Moore said.

He said while Chief Milage Peaks would prefer to maintain the size of the department, he and other fire leaders found they could get away with some downsizing. "We have some areas where we have task forces where a single engine could handle the number of fire calls they’re getting.”

Listen to the full report and read more HERE.

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