The Los Angeles City Council passed a measure in which residents on the June 2026 ballot will be asked to vote on a new tax to help build new fire stations and repair old ones.
On Jan. 14, a week after wildfires broke out in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena, council members Traci Park, Monica Rodriguez, and Imelda Padilla introduced a motion that would help the LAFD with funding for repairs, new fire stations, operations, and staffing.
The city currently has 106 fire stations. But the newest one is 24 years old - built in 2001.
“We need a 21st-century fire department that can tackle 21st-century problems,” Park said during the meeting. “Too many of our fire stations are past their original intended life spans."
According to Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, one of those fire stations is the one in Lincoln Heights, the oldest in the city.
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“The kitchen is where they used to keep the horses, which is the stables, and there's always plumbing issues,” she said. “The busiest fire station in the country is Fire Station 11. That serves MacArthur Park. That team needs a better fire station, especially with everything that they have to deal with. Also, the fire station that's connected to the emergency operation center is not that old, but we're already seeing that there's leakage from the bathroom into the dining area where our firefighters have to eat, where they have to shower.”
KNX News’ Jon Baird spoke with one resident who said he would be willing to pay more if that's what it takes to beef up the fire department.
“Just because living in Los Angeles…it’s to protect our city, our homes, our communities,” he said. “So yeah, I would be for it.”
Another man, however, said that the city council doesn’t need more money from the public.
“The money is already there. They're wasting it,” he said. “ We spent how much money on building homes for the homeless out of cargo containers that you can buy for $30,000, and they spent $500,000 a unit. Now they're coming after us going, ‘Hey, give us more money.’”
This comes a week after it was revealed the city is facing a nearly $1 billion gap in the next fiscal year.
It’s unclear how much the city will ask for.
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