On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah said that while funding issues within the Los Angeles Fire Department have been going on for years and precede current Mayor Karen Bass’ tenure, the city’s lack of staff within the fire department “shows” by the fact that millions in equipment “is just sitting in a lot unused because the fire department can’t afford to hire the mechanics to repair it.” And that there have been repeated warnings about the resource issues.
Lah stated, “A CNN analysis shows, out of the ten biggest cities in the nation, Los Angeles ranks ninth when it comes to the number of firefighters per resident. And it shows, millions of dollars in rescue equipment is just sitting in a lot unused because the fire department can’t afford to hire the mechanics to repair it.”
Earlier in the segment, Lah stated that the issue around the budget for the city’s fire department “precedes this Mayor. This is years in the making. The fire department has warned of dire consequences, saying that they need more money, they need more firefighters. And they warned of this as recently as last month.”
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