A City on Edge

For the crews at the Los Angeles Fire Department, the job has become a relentless, high-stakes game of whack-a-mole. Between January 1 and September 20 of this year alone, the department clocked a staggering 12,241 fires labeled as “homeless or encampment related.” That is roughly 47 fires every single day—an absolute L for city resources.

Firefighter-paramedics Andrew Machado and Anthony Verdecia recently told ABC 7 that it’s not uncommon to spot multiple blazes within the first few minutes of a single street patrol. They’ve seen it all, from fires meant for cooking or keeping warm to more random, chaotic situations.

By the Numbers

While the current numbers are technically a 6% dip from last year, the scale of the issue remains massive. Most of these incidents—over 10,000—start as trash or rubbish fires. However, things get way more serious when they spread; 153 structure fires and 173 vehicle fires have been linked to these sites this year. In one tragic case earlier this May, a Larchmont resident lost his home and his dogs in a fire that started in a nearby encampment.

Skid Row and the 10 Freeway Corridor are currently the major hotspots. While some areas are seeing action, the approach is inconsistent: while Malibu recently declared a local emergency to expedite clearing encampments in high-hazard zones, the Los Angeles City Council actually voted in August to lift camping bans at 12 sites, including parts of Echo Park and Hollywood.

The Wider Context

It’s giving a long-term pattern that is highkey concerning. In 2020, the department logged 7,165 encampment-related fires. Since then, the numbers have consistently climbed, more than doubling over the last five years. Mayor Karen Bass’ office claims they’ve cleared over 140 encampments, emphasizing that even one fire is too many, but the data shows the city is still on track for another year of heavy fire volume.

Why it matters

Public safety is hanging in the balance as the city tries to manage a humanitarian crisis that is literally setting the streets on fire. With fire risk peaking, the tension between clearing encampments to prevent disasters and managing the city’s unhoused population is a debate that isn’t going away anytime soon.