the richest residents of Los Angeles call on private firefighters

In the beautiful neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Riley Bowers continues his tour. Using his tanker truck, he generously waters his clients’ homes. For $300 per hour, he inspects the gardens and tracks down possible fires. Faced with the progression of the fire, the wealthy residents competed for his services. “I went from two clients to 50 clients. They are actors, celebrities, presenters, politicians”he explains.

To protect their multimillion-dollar villas, wealthy neighborhoods have their own fire mercenaries, including private firefighters like Taunis Nielsen. This former professional firefighter, now self-employed, has experience and a truck that is even more efficient than those of the Los Angeles firefighters. At $5,000 a day, not everyone in Los Angeles can afford its firefighting services. This difference in treatment outrages Lynda Park, who lost her mobile home in the fire. Last year, Los Angeles City Hall cut the fire department’s budget by $18 million.

Watch the full report in the video above