During an interview with CBS News aired on Thursday’s “CBS Evening News,” LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley stated that the cuts to the department’s budget resulted in the department taking from “nonessential duties and responsibilities” but due to the cuts, “we were limited to a certain factor,” in their ability to respond to large-scale events, but with the wind with the recent fires being the way it was, “I honestly don’t think a thousand engines at that very moment could have tapped this fire down.”
Host Norah O’Donnell asked, [relevant exchange begins around 11:05] “[A] lot of people are talking about the warning that you sent last month that the budget cuts have ‘severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires,’ you sent that warning about these budget cuts. Was this preventable?”
Crowley responded, “I’ll tell you from the budget cut side of things, when there’s a $17 million cut in our budget, operating costs, immediately, from that point, I had to make some tough decisions. I looked at some other duties and responsibilities that we do as a fire department and I had to focus right back on the training of our firefighters and also our ability to respond to the everyday fires and EMS response.”
O’Donnell then asked, “Would that $17 million that had been cut from your budget have made a difference in this fight?”
Crowley answered, “I would say, with the lean forward posture that we took, knowing that, a $17 million cut, we had to take from somewhere, and that was from the nonessential duties and responsibilities that, as a fire department, we have taken on over the past many, many years.”
O’Donnell followed up, “But with all due respect, in December, you had warned that the budget cuts would severely limit your ability to respond to large-scale emergencies. Is that true or not?”
Crowley answered, “I would say, yes, we were limited to a certain factor, yes.”
O’Donnell then asked about a CBS crew that watched homes burn down without any fire trucks around.
Crowley responded, “We pre-deployed the [greatest] amount of emergency resources that we could with what we had. With the pre-deployment, when the fire takes off, we’re going to push as many resources [as] we can at that particular incident. And that’s what we did. We did exactly what we could with what we had.”
O’Donnell then asked, “So, you’re saying you didn’t have enough resources?”
Crowley answered, “I would say in a wind event like this that we are living today in day three, something that is as significant as this particular fire, I would say we threw exactly what we could with what we had. So, if I had a thousand engines to throw at this fire, I honestly don’t think a thousand engines at that very moment could have tapped this fire down.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
