San Jose, Oakland fire departments understaffed like L.A.
What does it mean for the Bay Area?
The devastating fires that continue to burn in Los Angeles and rank among California’s deadliest and most destructive in history exposed long-festering complaints that the city fire department’s staffing is well below national averages.
Here in the Bay Area, two of the three largest city fire departments are similarly stretched, raising questions about their ability to protect homes and residents from wind-driven infernos like the Palisades and Eaton fires that continue to burn in and around Los Angeles where they’ve killed 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 homes and other structures.
Nationally, fire departments staffed mostly or entirely by full-time employees, rather than volunteers, have ranged from 1.54 to 1.81 career firefighters per 1,000 people, and 0.84 to 1.30 in larger departments, according to the latest U.S. fire department profile report in 2022 by the National Fire Protection Association, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that researches fire safety.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has less than one firefighter for every 1,000 residents, with a staffing rate of 0.90, a Bay Area News Group analysis found. The rate at the Oakland Fire Department is 1.07, and the San Jose Fire Department’s is only 0.64.