The city of Los Angeles is considering a bond measure that would provide funding for new fire stations and for repairing existing ones.
On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously approved a motion asking staff to come back in 60 days with a proposal. According to the motion, a bond measure could provide funding “that would bring the LAFD up to the standards needed for the next 50 years.”
The council did not specify the amount of the potential bond.
Councilmember Traci Park stressed the need for new fire facilities. Her district includes the Pacific Palisades, which was ravaged by wildfire in January.
“Too many of our fire stations are past their original intended lifespan,” she said. “We have leaky roofs, broken staircases.”
Even before the Palisades Fire, officials complained that the L.A. Fire Department needed to build more fire stations and repair existing ones. Shortly after the fire ignited, then-Chief Kristin Crowley said response to the incident was hampered because fire trucks were broken down in the maintenance yard.
An LAist report found the department is one of the smallest for a big city in the U.S.
The overall response time for 90% of calls to the L.A. Fire Department jumped more than a minute, to 7 minutes and 53 seconds, from 2018 to 2022, according to a Standards of Cover analysis last year by the International Association of Firefighters.
L.A. faces a projected budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1, which means more money for the Fire Department likely won’t come from the city's general fund.
