On Jan. 7, amid powerful Santa Ana winds during the southwestern U.S.’s driest 22-year period in 1,200 years, the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles erupted. The fire has now scorched more than 17,000 acres and was the first of five major wildfires that broke out after Mayor Karen Bass ordered a nearly $18 million budget cut to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The defunding occurred as funding for other state sectors increased, most notably the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The LAPD was reported to have received a 7% budget increase — $125.9 million — compared to previous years, despite evolving weather patterns. It’s important to note that this budget increase comes at a time when crime in LA has stabilized, if not gone down, over the past few years, while the climate crisis is a consistent concern that only becomes more prevalent as time and inaction persist.
Bass’ decision to prioritize other pursuits in lieu of wildfire preparedness is another example of politicians’ shortsightedness to the imminent danger of climate change. Now more than ever, we’re witnessing the aftermath of this negligence in the form of some of the most destructive natural disasters in LA’s history.
The LAFD budget cut resulted in a hiring freeze and reduced overtime meant for further training. According to NBC News, LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said the cuts “severely limited [LAFD’s] capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
Perhaps Bass justified this egregious budget cut by relying on incarcerated firefighters, whose income is a mere fraction of what their non-incarcerated counterparts earn. However, an insufficient budget for LAFD is not only exacerbating these wildfires but also disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, including incarcerated individuals and Indigenous tribes.
Incarcerated firefighters receive anywhere from $5.80 to $10.24 per day. While this is double the amount they received in 2023, it is still a blatant injustice. These firefighters comprise 30% of California’s firefighting team currently battling the flames engulfing large swaths of LA Not only are they paid significantly less, but they’re also granted fewer “privileges” than non-incarcerated firefighters, such as restricted access to hoses and being forced to use hand tools that bring them into closer contact with the flames.
Many overlook the historical misgivings and view penal labor as a way to reduce recidivism by encouraging inmates to adapt to real-world responsibilities in preparation for when they’re released. However, this doesn’t take into account the inevitable difficulties inmates face when entering the firefighting workforce upon their release, even with a 2020 law allowing them to expunge their criminal records.
Although California’s use of incarcerated firefighters is long-standing, one can’t help but wonder whether the extent to which they’re putting their lives at risk for inhumane treatment would exist if LAFD hadn’t received such a monumental blow to their budget. As climate concerns grow, government officials must prioritize mitigation efforts — especially over well-established departments with alarming histories. Bass’ actions are a troubling indicator of further environmental degradation nationwide if such mindsets persist.
Though worrisome all the same, this governmental approach isn’t anything new. For a nation built on colonialism that overlooks and exploits minorities, it’s no surprise that Indigenous communities have practiced a land management method to reduce such wildfires for millennia.
Cultural burning involves setting controlled fires to dead brush in foothills, woodlands and forests to clear out fire-hazard materials and promote biodiversity. Indigenous communities found it to be a way to ensure densely wooded areas were fire-resistant while giving plants used for food and medicine the space to flourish. However, this only lasted until colonizers settled in California and deemed the practice as “primitive,” soon prohibiting it under an 1850 law. Now, without a way to manage such areas ecologically, we see that once flames hit the crowns of large trees in forests, blazes spread beyond our control.
California is typically prone to wildfires from June to October, which notably sets this time apart from other wide-scale blazes in the past. This serves an imminent wake-up call to those who have remained blissfully ignorant of the threats of climate change — citizens and politicians alike.
Environmental concerns affect everyone the same and end for nobody. Whether you live in a $8.4 million Malibu home or a car parked along Pacific Coast Highway, the impacts of our negligent attitude toward evolving climate crises will continue to teach us lessons through mass environmental destruction.
If we continue to dismiss the larger problems environmental catastrophes pose, these climate crises will only wreak further chaos.
Trista Lara is a 2024-25 Managing Editor. She can be reached at tlara@uci.edu or manager@newuniversity.org.
Edited by Jaheem Conley.