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Los Angeles Residents Turn to Private Firefighters for Protection: Here’s What It Costs

A social media call for firefighters sparked outrage as wildfires raged throughout Los Angeles counties. It also brought attention to a little-known workforce that is putting in a lot of effort to put out the fire: private firefighting personnel.

On the social media site X, real estate mogul Keith Wasserman asked his network for contacts for “private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades.” The post has since been removed.

“Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount,” he continued.

At least 24 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced by the wind-fueled fires that have burned over 60 square miles of land in Los Angeles as of Monday, overwhelming city and county fire departments. In certain places, municipal supplies, such as fire hydrants, have run out.

In an attempt to protect their homes from the raging wildfires, those who can afford it are contacting private firefighting teams.

A California company called All Risk Shield, which offers expert wildfire prevention services to households across the state, told that it has received over 120 calls from homes in Los Angeles counties that are in danger due to the wildfires.

“And just like municipal firefighters, we didn’t have enough resources to answer everyone’s call,” company spokesperson Jose Torres stated. “But we have had some saves,” he added, referring to homes the company has spared from destruction.

What is the price of hiring a private firefighter?

County fire departments employ some of the company’s firemen. The organization, which charges between $2,500 and $14,000 for various levels of protective services, claims that others are retired from active duty.

Los Angeles Residents Turn to Private Firefighters for Protection: Here's What It Costs

In an attempt to shield their homes from oncoming flames, clients contacted All Risk Shield before the fires reached their properties.

“We deployed our teams to these high-risk properties we knew the fire was going to possibly reach, and we were on the ground before the fire even made it to that area,” Torres stated.

In addition to the company’s own fire retardants, this involved battling fires from customers’ homes and utilizing local resources, such as pools, spas, rainwater tanks, and water tanks, to put out fires. According to Torres, the business never uses public resources, such as fire hydrants, to provide services to private customers.

The business runs entirely independently of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, he continued, but “indirectly, we are helping each other.”

Contractors frequently collaborate with municipal, state, and federal firefighting efforts, according to the National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA), which advocates for private firefighter services.

According to the NWSA, the majority of these companies’ contracts come from supplying additional staff and equipment to municipal, state, and federal firefighting efforts; contracts with individual home and land owners make up a modest portion of their revenue.

Contractors that specialize in fire prevention and mitigation also work for insurance companies, doing things like removing or pruning trees close to residences, clearing vegetation, and spraying fire retardants to lower the chance of a fire.

Usually done in the off-season rather than in reaction to ongoing flames, this activity is a developing sector of the industry.

An instance of “all hands on deck”

According to the group, which represents 369 private firefighting firms nationwide, its members have allocated staff and other resources to the containment of the flames in Los Angeles.

Its member groups can pool up to 11,000 wildland firefighters with professional training.

“The size and scale of these fires and the devastation left in their wake require an all-hands-on-deck approach to suppression, restoration and future prevention, including state, federal and private resources,” according to the NWSA’s statement.

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