Firefighters stretched to breaking point after homeless people spark over 12K fires in Los Angeles

Los Angeles’ homeless population is pushing firefighting resources to the breaking point, responsible for over 12,000 homeless-related fires in the first 9 months of the year.

The Los Angeles Fire Department recorded 12,241 fires classified as “Homeless or Encampment Related” between Jan. 1 and Sept. 20. While this number is about a 6% decrease from the same time frame last year, the total averages out to 47 homeless-related fires every day in Los Angeles.

While these fires are sparking across the city, two hotspots are seeing a higher concentration of flames — Skid Row and along the 10 Freeway Corridor, particularly due to blazes caused by trash and rubbish, according to LAFD firefighters.

In one small section of Skid Row, ABC’s Data Team was able to identify 77 homeless-related fires in the area just this year.

Firefighter-paramedics Andrew Machado and Anthony Verdecia told ABC 7 they were just beginning street patrol one day when they encountered a burning bucket in the middle of the street. While tending to that fire, the two then spotted another one just a short distance away.

And this all happened within the first three minutes of their patrol.

“We just happened to roll up on it and see the smoke,” Verdecia told ABC 7.

While these 12,241 fires are all homeless-related, Verdecia said they occur for a variety of reasons.

“Sometimes for warming, sometimes for cooking, or sometimes just to start fire. I know even yesterday, there was someone that was practicing voodoo and wanted to just burn stuff,” he said.

While firefighters like Verdecia can often work to quickly extinguish the blazes, the potential consequences and spread remain the same as any other fire.

A rubbish fire believed to be homeless-related in May left a Larchmont homeowner homeless himself.

“I spoke to LAPD to kick them out, and they did nothing, and my house burned and my dogs are dead,” Jonathan Galicia said to Eyewitness News right after the fire destroyed his home.

Over 10,000 of the homeless-related fires this year have been trash fires. 189 have been vegetation or brush fires, 173 are due to vehicles and 153 have been structure fires, according to analysis from the ABC Data Team.

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In a statement sent to ABC 7, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ office said, “These types of fires are a danger to residents and businesses. This is why Mayor Bass is committed to ending street homelessness and has removed more than 140 encampments across the city. LAFD data shows calls related to encampment fires are down by more than 800 compared to this time last year, but one encampment fire is too many.”

Across Los Angeles, there were 16,982 fires last year that the LA Fire Department marked as “homeless or encampment related,” according to recently analyzed data.

That number is a staggering jump from 2020, when the fire department logged only 7,165 fires, meaning encampment-related fires more than doubled in the last five years. The data evidently shows an upward trend since 2020, with each year seeing more fires than the previous.

With the 12,241 homeless-related fires reported across the area already this year, Los Angeles is on track to see similar annual numbers for 2026.

Malibu, which lies within L.A. County and is no stranger to fire disaster, has begun to take action on the issue. The Malibu City Council unanimously approved a declaration of local emergency Aug. 10 after Live Fuel Moisture (LFM) levels — the percentage of water in living plants, a key indicator of wildfire threat — in the Santa Monica Mountains fell below 65%, which is the threshold set for hazardous fire conditions.

The declaration allows the city to act more quickly in removing homeless encampments “to reduce the risk of fires associated with unpermitted camping,” according to their website.

“This emergency declaration enables the City to act swiftly in reducing wildfire risks while continuing our balanced approach that protects both public safety and vulnerable community members,” Mayor Bruce Silverstein wrote within the declaration.

The city’s website specifies that the declaration “allows the City to expedite the removal of homeless encampments in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.” Just two paragraphs before that, the declaration states that the entire city of Malibu is within this zone.

The declaration will remain in effect for the duration of the hazardous fire season until the following criteria are met: Malibu has received at least two inches of rain, the LFM is at least 80% and there have been no Fire Weather Watches or Red Flag Warnings in the previous two weeks, with none in the extended forecast for Malibu.

The city says its approach has already yielded measurable results, with Malibu’s unhoused population declining from 46 in 2025 to 27 in 2026.

Moving in the opposite direction, the Los Angeles City Council voted to remove homeless camping bans at 12 sites in August. This meant camping bans that were previously put in place in parts of Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake were lifted.