Sven -- that’s some good news regarding Mrs. Sven! Prayers for continued healing! On the topic of homelessness -- those are some great questions. I don’t think we’ll ever get the answers because the answers don’t fit the narrative. A nearby city built a homeless shelter a few years ago. The city has a large homeless population and the shelter has 120 rooms. They partnered with a neighboring city to fill the rooms and still only had partial occupancy. This year they’re partnering with the city of Irvine, but they still don’t expect to fill all the beds. I spoke with a friend from church who works with the homeless and homeless organizations and she agreed that the vast majority of homeless that she encounters don’t want to live where they have to abide by the rules of society.
Regarding the homeless, or what we used to just call bums, there has to be a govt recognition that no matter what we offer, they aren’t going to take it. And at that point they have to move on to a Plan B. OK, you don’t want this, but you can’t stay here on the street, under an overpass, in this park, on this hillside, etc.. Move. The hard part is what to do when they won’t move. I don’t have an answer, but govt needs to start figuring it out. It is their job, afterall.
The LAFD responds to almost 50 homeless-fire incidents a day. I wonder if their budget has been bumped up to handle that? Checking with AI:
2026: 3,246 uniformed personnel
2023-2024:3,350
2021-022: 3562 Understaffing Compared to National Standards: The LAFD currently operates with roughly 0.91 firefighters per 1,000 residents. National fire response standards recommend a ratio closer to 1.54 to 1.81 per 1,000 residents, meaning the department is functioning at nearly half its recommended size.
Also from AI and it jives with numbers I’ve seen elsewhere, number of fires started by the homeless: 2025:16,982 fires (averaging 46 fires every day) 2024:~15,000 fires (climbing steadily from the prior year’s data) 2023:13,909 fires 2022:~11,000 fires 2021:~9,000 fires (averaging roughly 24 daily calls) 2020:7,165 fires (the baseline tracking year)
So they have fewer firemen now than 5 years back and the number of incidents has doubled. It’s not any real wonder why fires like Altadena and Palisade can’t get under control.
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Happy Friday, GN.
Happy Friday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven!
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Sven -- that’s some good news regarding Mrs. Sven! Prayers for continued healing! On the topic of homelessness -- those are some great questions. I don’t think we’ll ever get the answers because the answers don’t fit the narrative. A nearby city built a homeless shelter a few years ago. The city has a large homeless population and the shelter has 120 rooms. They partnered with a neighboring city to fill the rooms and still only had partial occupancy. This year they’re partnering with the city of Irvine, but they still don’t expect to fill all the beds. I spoke with a friend from church who works with the homeless and homeless organizations and she agreed that the vast majority of homeless that she encounters don’t want to live where they have to abide by the rules of society.
Thanks for the prayers, Paddy.
Regarding the homeless, or what we used to just call bums, there has to be a govt recognition that no matter what we offer, they aren’t going to take it. And at that point they have to move on to a Plan B. OK, you don’t want this, but you can’t stay here on the street, under an overpass, in this park, on this hillside, etc.. Move. The hard part is what to do when they won’t move. I don’t have an answer, but govt needs to start figuring it out. It is their job, afterall.
The LAFD responds to almost 50 homeless-fire incidents a day. I wonder if their budget has been bumped up to handle that? Checking with AI:
2026: 3,246 uniformed personnel
2023-2024:3,350
2021-022: 3562
Understaffing Compared to National Standards: The LAFD currently operates with roughly 0.91 firefighters per 1,000 residents. National fire response standards recommend a ratio closer to 1.54 to 1.81 per 1,000 residents, meaning the department is functioning at nearly half its recommended size.
Also from AI and it jives with numbers I’ve seen elsewhere, number of fires started by the homeless:
2025: 16,982 fires (averaging 46 fires every day)
2024: ~15,000 fires (climbing steadily from the prior year’s data)
2023: 13,909 fires
2022: ~11,000 fires
2021: ~9,000 fires (averaging roughly 24 daily calls)
2020: 7,165 fires (the baseline tracking year)
So they have fewer firemen now than 5 years back and the number of incidents has doubled. It’s not any real wonder why fires like Altadena and Palisade can’t get under control.
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