Los Angeles Mayor: Police need authority to clear encampments on high-fire risk days

  • Source: KTTV-TV MyFox 11 Los Angeles
  • Published: 08/21/2019 07:48 PM

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a proposed ordinance that could give law enforcement the authority to order homeless people out of encampments located in brush areas on high-risk fire days. "Once the ordinance is adopted law enforcement will be able to give direct notice to individuals living in fire danger zones that they must move,'' Garcetti said. "That means that on these hot red flag days that come up during the summertime and increasingly year-round, we can now take a major step toward reducing the likelihood of encampment fires like we saw in 2017 with the Skirball Fire and last month in the Sepulveda Basin.'' The mayor made the announcement at a Van Nuys news conference designed to highlight the Los Angeles Fire Department's newest aerial firefighting assets -- a fifth AW139 helicopter that can drop up to 480 gallons of water, and an Erickson "Aircrane'' the city leases annually during the fire season.



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