City committee hears LAFD standards-of-cover report that finds response times nearly double NFPA target, urges short-term fixes and long-term investment

Los Angeles City Public Safety Committee Chair Council member John Lee on Wednesday heard a standards-of-cover analysis for the Los Angeles Fire Department that concluded the department is under-resourced and that response performance falls well short of national recommendations.

Battalion Chief Eric Roberts, assigned to the LAFD planning section, told the committee the study—produced in partnership with labor and the International Association of Fire Fighters—found the department can reach only about 49.2% of locations within the NFPA 1710 four-minute benchmark and that the department’s 90th-percentile travel time is 7 minutes, 53 seconds. “The LAFD has been under resourced, understaffed, and underfunded for decades,” Roberts said.

The report matters because slower response times and gaps in coverage affect emergency medical care and fire suppression across the city’s 468 square miles. The committee voted to note and file the report and adopt related motions calling for regular updates ahead of the budget process.

Roberts said the department responded to roughly 514,000 runs in 2024 and that the city’s 3.9 million residents produce a firefighter-per-1,000-residents ratio of about 0.91—about half the NFPA-recommended range of 1.54 to 1.81. The study recommends 712 additional firefighters in the short term and proposes adding 62 fire stations (the study’s unconstrained methodology suggested 84; staff adjusted that figure accounting for mutual- and automatic-aid agreements). Roberts said the department also proposes pursuing 32 additional ambulances and other mobile resources such as fast-response vehicles and advanced-practitioner units.

Union leaders and firefighters who spoke during public comment urged rapid action and additional funding. Freddy Escobar, president of UFLAC, urged elected officials to back a fire-specific bond and said residents nationally pay more per household for fire services in some other large cities. “If our city values its department the same way San Francisco does, our annual budget would be $2,500,000,000,” Escobar said, calling for work “as one team united for the city of Los Angeles.”

Rich Ramirez, second vice president of UFLAC Local 112 and an LAFD firefighter-paramedic, summarized study findings in public comment and said the department now has fewer stations than in the 1960s while responding to many more calls. “In 2023, we responded to five times the number of calls since 1969 with fewer fire stations and fewer firefighters,” Ramirez said.

Captain and UFLAC director Chung Ho told the committee that mandatory overtime and force-hire programs already put members under severe strain and warned that additional temporary staffing rules without hiring new personnel would further stress crews. “Anything new on top of this only exemplifies the urgency that we need more firefighters and we need them now,” Chung said, describing shifts that can run 72 hours.

Roberts and council members discussed short-, medium- and long-term options. Short-term steps identified in the study and by staff include redeploying existing apparatus in “life-force” configurations, rapidly adding two-person ambulance and fast-response units, and housing ambulances in existing facilities while longer-term infrastructure (new stations and battalion reorganization) proceeds. Roberts said the department could run up to five recruit classes per year—roughly 65 recruits per class—if funded; the department reported hiring 267 firefighters in fiscal year 2023–24.

Other figures and clarifications provided in the presentation and committee discussion:

- LAFD current sworn force cited in the presentation: about 3,538 firefighters (leading to the 0.91 per 1,000 ratio). - Short-term additional staffing recommended: 712 firefighters. - Infrastructure recommendation adjusted by staff: 62 additional stations (study unconstrained recommendation was 84). - 90th-percentile response time reported: 7 minutes, 53 seconds (NFPA 1710 target: 4 minutes). - Out-of-service apparatus reported by the chief near the end of the hearing: 39 engines, 32 ambulances, 13 trucks. - LAFD budget request noted by staff: the fire chief’s submission asked for approximately a 7% operating increase and a larger total request (staff said about 412 additional positions—sworn and civilian—were included in the chief’s broader package).

Committee members asked for district-level breakdowns, heat maps of high-utilization areas and peak-hour staffing proposals. Roberts said staff prepared binders tailored to each council district and that the study’s digital tools let council offices drill into district and battalion performance. Council members pressed department staff to bring an implementation timeline and firmer budget numbers before the next budget cycle and encouraged working with city departments and the planning section to identify public property and other opportunities for station sites.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved a consent package of items 2–6 and 9–14 as recommended by staff, and separately approved item 7 (a nonmonetary donation of a 2025 Ford Explorer to LAPD Information Technology Bureau) and item 1 (the standards-of-cover report actions). The clerk recorded these outcomes as approved; the transcript contains a later clarification that Council member Park had been absent for an earlier roll call on item 7. The committee also instructed staff to return with annual updates tied to the budget cycle.

The committee hearing included multiple public-comment speakers who urged more investment. Several committee members signaled support for pursuing short-term deployments that can be implemented before capital projects are built, and some members said they plan to explore a 2026 bond measure for fire facilities and infrastructure in coordination with labor and the department.

The department and council members agreed to continue work on staffing schedules, recruitment cadence and specific locations for proposed new facilities and to bring a more detailed implementation and budget plan to the council before the next budget cycle. The committee voted to note and file the Standards of Cover report and adopt motions directing follow-up.