Firefighters stretched to breaking point after homeless people spark over 12K fires in Los Angeles

Los Angeles’ homeless population is pushing firefighting resources to the breaking point, responsible for over 12,000 homeless-related fires in the first 9 months of the year.The Los Angeles Fire Department recorded 12,241 fires classified as “Homeless or Encampment Related” between Jan.1 and Sept.

20.While this number is about a 6% decrease from the same time frame last year, the total averages out to 47 homeless-related fires every day in Los Angeles.While these fires are sparking across the city, two hotspots are seeing a higher concentration of flames — Skid Row and along the 10 Freeway Corridor, particularly due to blazes caused by trash and rubbish, according to LAFD firefighters.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story In one small section of Skid Row, ABC’s Data Team was able to identify 77 homeless-related fires in the area just this year.Firefighter-paramedics Andrew Machado and Anthony Verdecia told ABC 7 they were just beginning street patrol one day when they encountered a burning bucket in the middle of the street.

While tending to that fire, the two then spotted another one just a short distance away.And this all happened within the first three minutes of their patrol.“We just happened to roll up on it and see the smoke,” Verdecia told ABC 7.While these 12,241 fires are all homeless-related, Verdecia said they occur for a variety of reasons.“Sometimes for warming, sometimes for cooking, or sometimes just to start fire.I know even yesterday, there was someone that was practicing voodoo and wanted to just burn stuff,” he said.While firefighters like Verdecia can often work to quickly extinguish the blazes, the potential consequences and spread remain the same as any other fire.A rubbish fire believed to be homeless-related in May left ...