The super-rich who use their elite status to employ private firefighters

The use of private firefighters by LA’s wealthy elite has stoked outrage among ordinary citizens, many of whom have lost their homes in the wildfires that have ripped through the city.

Among the billionaires either using or wanting to use the private service that costs upwards of $3,000 a day, is developer and former Republican mayoral candidate, Rick Caruso.

According to the New York Times, Caruso used private fire crews to protect his properties in the Palisades Village, something he himself confirmed.

Another real-estate tycoon, Keith Wasserman, issued a plea on X for private firefighting power to save his multi-million-dollar Pacific Palisades home from the blaze.

Photo: Screenshot from Gelt Venture Partners website

The co-founder of real estate investment firm Gelt Venture Partners wrote: “Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades? Need to act fast here,” he added. “All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount. Thank you.”

Photo: screenshot from Sam Vance X account

This plea was heavily criticized, with one social media user hitting back with: “Incredible nerve. His family is evacuated and he's trying to hire private firefighters to risk their lives to save a home he most certainly has insured. Incredibly tone deaf.”

Photo: screenshot from Sam Vance X account

Another wrote: “So you're suggesting that potentially lifesaving resources (even if ‘private’) should be diverted to save your house because you’re rich while tens of thousands of people try to evacuate?"

More than 6 million people are threatened by the fires which continue to tear through thousands of acres of land due to high winds, according to CNN. Twenty-five are dead and dozens are missing while almost 180,000 have been evacuated to date.

According to Michael Traum of the California Office of Emergency Services, there are 14,000 first responders from the LA Fire Department attempting to contain the various blazes.

But, as fire trucks from local and state agencies are doing their job in the Palisades, teams of private firefighters in white pickup trucks were seen to be touring the scene, keeping watch on individual homes, the New York Times reports.

Clearly the uber rich believe they have more chance of saving their homes if they shell out for private protection which comes in the form of a bright pink flame retardant called Phos-Chek.

“This week’s events have shown you can’t trust the city to protect your property,” one member of the elite told the US Sun. “I have the money, so why not?"

A video posted on X also showed private firefighters guarding a home and using sprinklers to fight the flames.

San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporter Matthias Gafni said: "They’ve set up sprinklers to cascade water from the second story eaves.” He also noted that the private team were expected to perform a 24-hour guard service.

Company Covered 6, who offer fire protection services and safety training to the Hollywood elite, said that their phones were ringing off the hook, reports the US Sun.

Private firefighting companies have multiplied in recent years reflecting the growing threat of wildfires in general.

The tendency of the elite to call on private firefighting services became big news in 2018 when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West used private teams to save their LA mansion in the Woolsey fire, as reported by TMZ.

Kardashian has also been accused along with other celebrities of using hundreds of thousands of gallons of water for her grounds when water usage was being restricted, shrugging off the fine.

A Kardashian neighbor said at the time: “Everyone was told to cut back on water precisely for this situation, to preserve it to fight fires,” reports the US Sun.

Forty five percent of firefighters work for private companies, according to the New York Times, but in 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that some private crews were failing to coordinate with local agencies.

“When we see groups like this come in, we don’t consider them an asset — we consider them a liability,” Brian Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, told The New York Times.

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