L.A. voters will be asked to increase taxes, yet again. Will they do it for firefighters?

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A new sales tax that would generate $345 million annually for the Los Angeles Fire Department will go before voters later this year, the City Council decided Tuesday, as a stubborn warehouse blaze burned for a seventh day on the city’s eastern edge.The council voted 14-0 to put the half-cent sales tax hike on the Nov.3 ballot, with supporters saying the additional funds would go toward more firefighters, new fire stations and new equipment, such as firetrucks and helicopters.The vote came nearly 18 months after the outbreak of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other coastal areas, leaving 12 people dead.

But it more immediately coincided with the city’s fight to extinguish the blaze at the Boyle Heights cold storage facility, which has spread smoke across the region over the last week.Climate & Environment Toxic air has covered the San Gabriel Valley and beyond at times, as the fire continues to burn and the wind shifts the pall in different directions.The campaign for the sales tax hike is being spearheaded by United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents nearly 3,400 firefighters.

Appearing before the council, union leaders pointed to the Boyle Heights fire as the latest sign that the city needs more money for emergency response.“This is our plan to undo decades of under-investment in the department,” said Ryan Quigley, a 23-year firefighter/paramedic who also serves as the union’s secretary.Mayor Karen Bass, through a spokesperson, said she is grateful to the union for bringing the tax proposal forward.“[The mayor] has championed this measure from the very beginning,” the spokesperson, Paige Sterling, said in a statement.The firefighters union began gathering signatures for the tax earlier this year, submitting them to the city clerk last month.Since then, backers have voice...