The Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners is expected Tuesday to review a recruitment plan intended to boost the fire department's hiring of firefighters and paramedics.
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In the next fiscal year, the Los Angeles Fire Department is expected to receive funding for two classes of 59 new recruits and it partially supports a recruit class that began in May, according to a fire department report.
The department still has an active hiring list, consisting of about 100 candidates, from 2023, which was put on pause due to the city's budget constraints. Candidates still need to finish background, medical and psychological exams to move forward in the hiring process.
In total, the department has 412 candidates, of which 27 of them indicated they were certified paramedics at application in 2023.
The report stated that LAFD's recruitment unit is working with the Personnel Department to determine when the best time will be to interview these 412 candidates amid ongoing work by elected officials to address a roughly $1 billion deficit.
The LAFD employs 1,338 certified paramedics in its ranks, and 814 of are categorized in the rank of firefighters/paramedic. Through July 2026, the department anticipates paramedic vacancies to increase.
With the city working to address the deficit, LAFD may be required to pull back on costs related to recruitment events. The commission is expected to discuss strategies to engage potential candidates via social media rather than in-person events.
Meanwhile, the commission is scheduled to discuss the impact of federal level cutbacks on the department, as well as weigh in on the plan to eliminate LAFD's Equity and Human Resources Bureau in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
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