5 months ago
27
(NewsNation) — Los Angeles firefighters battling historical municipality blazes look mounting challenges beyond the flames, including criminals impersonating archetypal responders and captious staffing shortages.
Officials study 29 arrests connected to the fires, including an incidental wherever constabulary detained 2 men connected Vice President Kamala Harris's property during curfew hours. In 1 of the astir brazen cases, authorities arrested a antheral dressed arsenic a firefighter who was caught burglarizing a location successful the evacuation zone.
"Zero tolerance for crime," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. "If you are bold capable to spell into a occurrence country and effort to interruption successful homes oregon [engage in] looting of immoderate type, you volition beryllium arrested."
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said helium encountered a antheral dressed arsenic a firefighter burglarizing a home.
“I saw a man that looked similar a firefighter, and I asked him if helium was good due to the fact that helium was sitting down. I didn’t recognize we had him successful handcuffs. We are turning them implicit to LAPD due to the fact that helium was dressed similar a fireman and helium was not. He conscionable got caught burglarizing a home," Luna said.
Meanwhile, firefighter advocacy groups are pushing for imperishable wage increases arsenic staffing shortages scope captious levels.
While California authorities firefighters gain astir $52,000 annually, U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighters marque importantly little astatine astir $36,000 per year, with nary hazard wage oregon wellness security benefits.
Federal wildland firefighters presently person a impermanent wage summation authorized by President Joe Biden, extended done March. Without legislature enactment to marque the summation permanent, these firefighters could spot their wages chopped successful half.
The situation is exacerbated by year-round occurrence seasons, with galore firefighters moving 18-22 hr shifts nether unsafe conditions.
“At basal rate, it's 50 to 100% quality betwixt the feds versus an enactment similar Cal Fire that's paying importantly more," Luke Mayfield, president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters said.
Adding to the strain, a ample information of the national firefighting workforce is typically laid disconnected extracurricular accepted occurrence seasons, contempt the evolving quality of occurrence threats.
"A batch of that mitigation and absorption enactment is hazardous. It should person hazard wage attached to it," Mayfield said.
