Private firefighters highlight wealth divide in ruined Los Angeles

On one side of the street lie the ashes of ruined houses, lost to the huge blazes that defeated Los Angeles firefighters when hydrants ran dry.

On the other side, a small village of shops is still intact, watched over by tanker trucks and an army of private firemen.

More than a week after enormous blazes spread unchecked through swathes of America's second largest metropolis, questions are being asked about how some of the city's super-rich seem to have survived almost unscathed.

"All I can say is that we got hired and we have been ordered to stay here. I'm not allowed to tell you more than that." a man in a yellow and green uniform told AFP in front of the commercial development.

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The men, along with their pick-up trucks with Oregon license plates, were stationed at property owned by billionaire developer Rick Caruso.

Their presence -- protecting stores hawking luxury brands like Yves Saint-Laurent, Isabel Marant and Erewhon -- jars in a city where more than two dozen people have died and thousands of people have lost their homes.

"It sucks that there's a lot of politics involved," says another of the men. "We just want to do the job and help however we can."

Caruso, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

But in Pacific Palisades, a haunt of Hollywood celebrities and the ultra-rich, he is not the only one apparently using his wealth to protect his property.

Other private firefighters stand guard in front of some of the untouched princely villas that dot the hillsides.

- 'Will pay any amount' -

The sector made headlines in 2018 when Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West hired private firefighters to protect their lavish pad in the affluent community of Hidden Hills, north of the city.

The profiles of the two distinct areas that were hit by last week's blazes -- wealthy Pacific Palisades and the more mixed Altadena -- have already served to put a spotlight on economic divisions in the United States.

The disparity was further highlighted in the immediate aftermath of the fires when real estate developer Keith Wasserman attracted an avalanche of criticism after a social media post.

"Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home?" he wrote in the now-deleted post.

"Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount."

Such services can cost between $2,000 and $15,000 per day, US media has reported, citing local companies.

But even for those with the means, calling on private firefighters is not always simple -- most firms are contracted by cities, government departments or insurance companies.

In California, a law passed in 2018 limits how they can operate.

They are not allowed to use flashing lights or badges similar to those of public firefighters, and are required to coordinate with them.

Since this legislation came into force some companies have refused to serve individuals.

- Whose water? -

Private or public, firefighters all have the same mission: "protecting our community," said Jake Heflin, a firefighter from the publicly funded Long Beach Fire Department.

"If it's done correctly and done in partnership and in concert together, it can be very effective," Heflin said.

But it can also create problems.

Taxpayer-funded services should not have to focus "resources on taking care of them, because either they're ill-equipped or ill-prepared and they've gotten themselves into a difficult situation," he said.

Firefighters "want to have those conversations well ahead of the event."

How much coordination there was before the catastrophe in Pacific Palisades, where hydrants ran dry and some houses were effectively left to burn, is unclear.

For Jeff Ridgway, a 67-year-old Pacific Palisades resident who resorted to scooping buckets out of a swimming pool when the mains supply petered out, that is a key question.

"It will be very interesting to know if they used these fire hydrants," Ridgway told AFP.

"I really hope they brought their own water."