Los Angeles

LAFD Changes

Emmett McOsker

In the midst of a budget deficit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials have been forced to reduce spending and cut back on the services provided by the city. In August of 2009, the city began its “Modified Coverage Plan.” The intention of this plan was to help reduce the city's deficit by $39 million, the plan includes 87 fewer firefighters, 15 fewer fire trucks, and 9 fewer ambulances at any given time. Referred to by many as “brownouts,” both city officials and the LAFD acknowledge this has resulted in longer response times, increased workloads at stations, and makes fewer fire engines available for pre-deployment to areas with high fire danger. Now, in September 2010, a year after the first “brownouts” – the mayor announced the suspension of the city's “Modified Coverage Plan” through the peak of the brush fire season. The change allows the LAFD to reassign firefighters who perform administrative duties and put them back into the field, allowing the department to put the 15 fire trucks back in service. However, the reduced number of ambulances will remain, and the “brownouts” are set to resume after the brush fire season ends if an agreement between L.A. City and the LAFD cannot be reached. The city and the firefighter's labor union have been involved in contract negotiations for 3 months now, and the “brownouts” have been among the most dividing issues between the two sides.

• Modified Coverage Plan: L.A. City's reduction of available firefighters, fire trucks, and ambulances since August 2009 in an attempt to reduce the city's massive budget deficit.
• Brownouts: Term for the reduction in LAFD's resources; has resulted in slower response times and less available trucks in “high fire danger” areas
• Plan suspended: In attempt to increase resources during brush fire season; plan will resume after the season and does not restore the cut ambulances throughout L.A.

Additional Reading:

-http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7699957

-http://www.uflac.org/index.cfm?section=1