A bombshell memo leaked from Los Angeles City Hall reveals that Mayor Karen Bass demanded the city’s Fire Department slash an additional $49 million from its budget—just one week before wildfires devastated vast swaths of the region.
The proposed cuts, which came on top of $17.6 million already slashed from this year’s budget, would have shut down 16 fire stations across the city. Sources inside the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) say the move would have crippled their ability to respond to emergencies.
The memo, dated January 6, was sent just one day before the Palisades Fire ignited, scorching neighborhoods and overwhelming fire crews already operating under immense pressure.
“The LAFD is still going through a FY [financial year] 2024/2025 $48.8million budget reduction exercise with the CAO [City Attorney’s Office],” the memo reads.
“The only way to provide a cost savings would be to close as many as 16 fire stations (not resources, fire stations); this equates to at least one fire station per City Council District.”
“The details of this plan have not yet been developed. This is a worst-case scenario and is NOT happening yet.”
Frontline Firefighters Sound the Alarm
The memo, exclusively obtained by whistleblower account LAFD Watchdog, triggered outrage among senior fire officials. Several spoke anonymously to DailyMail.com, revealing the internal chaos and anger sparked by the mayor’s demand.
“They did not want this out. It’s an internal memo not to be distributed,” said one 25-year LAFD veteran still serving.
“It comes from top brass downtown, City Hall. They’re trying to allocate more money for the homeless, and they need to start taking from everybody.”
Veteran firefighters say budget cuts have already gutted core operations. Training programs were halved, hydrant testing was halted, and maintenance budgets are depleted.
“We already exhausted our budget. It’s already tapped. That’s why they cut the fire academy in half, so they could save more money. That’s why we’re not testing if hydrants work any more. We’re doing everything we can to save money.”
“We have fire engines we can’t get parts for. When one breaks down we strip it of parts to put on other fire engines because we can’t buy any more parts.”
“If you shut down 16 stations, that’s about 750 personnel. Then they expect us to take the same call volume. And yesterday we did 3,800 calls, almost twice of what our daily call volume usually is.”
“We’re already shy 200 paramedics, and we’re on the verge of another 200 quitting because we can’t do this any more.”
“If we don’t work overtime, they suspend and threaten to terminate us. It’s untenable.”
Bass Demanded Millions More — Even After Prior Cuts Were Flagged
Sources say Bass personally delivered the request for the additional $49 million in a tense meeting with LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley.
“Bass wanted to cut even more,” a source familiar with the meeting stated. “They asked for $49million more on Friday last week. The Chief said ‘We don’t have it’. The Mayor said ‘Find it’.”
Crowley had already warned the mayor that prior budget cuts passed by City Council had seriously undermined emergency preparedness.
In a memo dated December 4, obtained by NBC LA, Crowley cautioned that the $17.6 million reduction had “severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
She also highlighted the $7 million cut to overtime staffing, which directly impacted operations like fire prevention, community outreach, and firefighter training.
Fires Ravage City as Bass Attends Foreign Ceremony
While wildfires burned through at least 54 square miles, destroying over 4,000 homes and buildings and leaving ten people dead, Mayor Bass was overseas—attending a presidential inauguration in Ghana.
Firefighters struggled against 120-foot flames whipped by fierce winds amid California’s drought. Communities from Pasadena to the Pacific Coast suffered catastrophic losses, with total damage estimated at $49 billion.
Currently, the Palisades Fire is just 8% contained, and the Eaton Fire remains uncontrolled. Other blazes—the Kenneth, Hurst, and Lidia Fires—remain only partially contained.
Bass has faced growing criticism over her decision to leave the city as “critical” fire weather warnings had already been issued days in advance.
Pressed at a Thursday press conference, the mayor defended her leadership.
“I just said what I believe is the most important thing for us to do right now. That’s going to continued to be my focus.”
As firefighters risk their lives to save what remains of Los Angeles, the decision to demand deep financial cuts just before disaster struck has ignited fierce debate. With the city now facing unimaginable loss, questions loom large about leadership, priorities, and whether this crisis could have been mitigated.
