By admin 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — More than 12,000 homeless-related fires have been reported in Los Angeles so far this year, according to data from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
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The department recorded 12,241 fires classified as “Homeless or Encampment Related” from Jan. 1 through Sept. 20 of this year. That’s down about 6% from the same time last year, but still averages out to 47 homeless related fires every day in the city.
Raw fire data obtained through public records and analyzed by 7 On Your Side Investigates and the ABC Data Team shows the fires are occurring across the city, with hotspots along the 10 Freeway corridor and in Skid Row, where firefighters say they are increasingly tied up responding to trash and rubbish fires.
Using reports from every homeless-related fire recorded this year through August, the ABC Data Team mapped out the fire incidents across Los Angeles. In just one small section of Skid Row alone, the data showed 77 homeless-related fires already so far this year.
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To see the impact firsthand, 7 On Your Side Investigates accompanied an LAFD Rapid Response Team assigned to tackle many of the department’s smaller fires before they grow into larger emergencies.
“I mean, we’re pretty quick,” firefighter-paramedic Andrew Machado said.
Machado and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Verdecia had barely begun their patrol in Skid Row when they encountered a burning bucket in the middle of a street. While extinguishing that fire, they spotted another one just a short distance away.
“So this rubbish fire, the last two we just spotted, we just happened to roll up on it and see the smoke,” Verdecia said. To note, this was within just the first three minutes of their time out in the field.
The firefighters are assigned to an LAFD vehicle equipped with 200 feet of hose and 200 gallons of water. The specialized truck allows crews to quickly respond to trash fires throughout the area.
Verdecia said firefighters encounter fires started for a variety of reasons.
“Sometimes for warming, sometimes for cooking, or sometimes just to start fire. I know even yesterday, there was someone that was practicing voodoo and wanted to just burn stuff. And so the rubbish spills out into the street up against buildings and it’s just a constant battle,” he said.
Later that morning, the crew located another fire beneath the 10 Freeway, where smoke was rising from a shopping cart inside an encampment.
Nearby columns supporting the freeway, which were coated in what looked like soot, showed evidence of previous fires.
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Firefighters warned that even seemingly minor rubbish fires can quickly become much more dangerous.
“Fire spreads very quickly as we all know, as we’ve all seen. Even without any wind, these rubbish fires can spread into neighboring encampments, into trees, brush and then of course into structures,” Verdecia said.
The consequences can be significant.
In May, a rubbish fire shut down part of the 110 Freeway in San Pedro. In March, a fire that a Larchmont homeowner believed spread from squatters leveled his family’s home.
“I spoke to LAPD to kick them out, and they did nothing, and my house burned and my dogs are dead,” Jonathan Galicia said to Eyewitness News right after the fire destroyed his home.
The fires have also damaged infrastructure, frustrated residents and have seriously injured both firefighters and homeless individuals.
By the end of the day, Machado and Verdecia found themselves back where they started. A shopping cart was burning in the same location where they had extinguished an earlier fire just hours before.
Asked how much time homeless-related fires consume, Verdecia said, “So on a day-to-day, especially on this fast response vehicle, we’re handling five, 10, sometimes 15 rubbish fires in a day.”
More than 10,000 of the homeless fires so far this year have been trash fires – that’s the vast majority of them. But 189 have been vegetation or brush fires, 173 have been vehicle fires, and another 153 have been structure fires, according to analysis from the ABC Data Team.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass did not take up an invite from 7 On Your Side for an interview on this topic, but her office sent us a statement saying, in part:
“These types of fires are a danger to residents and businesses. This is why Mayor Bass is committed to ending street homelessness and has removed more than 140 encampments across the city. LAFD data shows calls related to encampment fires are down by more than 800 compared to this time last year, but one encampment fire is too many.”
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