LAFD standards-of-cover study finds response times double NFPA recommendation; department asks for staff, stations and short-term units

The Los Angeles City Public Safety Committee on Wednesday heard a standards-of-cover analysis showing the Los Angeles Fire Department often takes nearly eight minutes to reach incidents at the 90th percentile and can reach only about half of city locations within the four-minute standard recommended for many emergency medical and fire responses.

Battalion Chief Eric Roberts, presenting the report developed with the International Association of Fire Fighters and the department’s planning section, told the committee “the LAFD has been under resourced, understaffed, and underfunded for decades.” He said the study found the department can reach only 49.2% of locations within four minutes and that the LAFD’s 90th‑percentile travel time is “7 minutes and 53 seconds, twice what the NFPA recommends.”

The report, a joint labor-management effort, compared Los Angeles with national recommendations in NFPA 1710 and with other large cities and recommended a mix of short-, medium- and long-term measures to narrow coverage gaps and reduce high workload on existing units. In the short term, department planners recommended deploying currently available “200‑series” engines and two‑person fast‑response units and pursuing roughly 32 additional ambulances or comparable advanced practitioner units. Roberts said the analysis identifies a short‑term need for about 712 additional firefighters and a longer-term plan that would add additional fire stations (the report proposes 62 new stations, down from an initial 84 after factoring mutual‑aid agreements).

Union leaders and firefighters who offered public comment urged rapid action. Freddy Espar, president of UFLAC, said the findings justify a major funding increase and urged elected officials to support a fire bond or other measures to accelerate hiring and facilities work. “If our city values its department the same way San Francisco does, our annual budget would be $2,500,000,000,” Espar said during the public comment period. Rich Ramirez, second vice president of UFLAC Local 112 and an LAFD firefighter‑paramedic, told the committee the department has “0.9 firefighters for every 1,000 people,” about half the NFPA recommendation and a core reason for slower response times.

Roberts and other presenters emphasized measures that can be taken immediately, including placing ambulances and fast‑response vehicles in existing stations and changing deployment to match peak demand moments rather than waiting years to build new stations or receive new apparatus. The report also proposed medium‑term changes to battalion span‑of‑control and to civilian administrative staffing; Roberts said the department currently has roughly 369 civilian positions compared with about 1,700 civilians at Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Committee members pressed staff for operating details. Roberts said the department recently hired 267 firefighters in fiscal year 2023–24 and that, under an aggressive training schedule, the department could run up to five recruit classes per year. He also reiterated a short‑term budget request the chief had submitted: roughly a 7% increase in the department’s operating budget to begin addressing facilities, personnel and equipment shortfalls, and a separate longer 25‑year vision that would require more substantial capital investments. Roberts provided an inventory update near the end of the presentation, saying 39 engines, 32 rescue ambulances and 13 trucks were out of service at that time and noting supply‑and‑maintenance staffing was short.

Council members from across the committee expressed willingness to pursue funding and to use the committee’s annual review to inform the budget process. Council member John Lee moved and Council member McOsker seconded a motion to note and file the standards‑of‑cover report and to adopt an annual update tied to the budget cycle; the committee approved the motion unanimously by roll call.

The committee did not adopt a funding package at the meeting. Presenters and union representatives urged several paths forward, including short‑term deployment changes, multi‑year hiring plans that could include five recruit classes per year if funded, and exploring a bond measure to finance new stations and facility repairs. Roberts said the report will be followed by additional, district‑level data and a more detailed implementation plan for the next budget cycle.

The committee’s action was to note and file the report and adopt the motion requesting annual updates before future budget seasons; staff indicated more detailed cost and hiring plans will be provided in follow‑up reports to inform future budget decisions.