June 17--Los Angeles city officials Tuesday called on the Fire Department to immediately begin eliminating a backlog of thousands of overdue safety inspections of big apartment buildings, schools, churches, hotels and other structures occupied by large numbers of people, even if the effort means hiring outside help.
Responding to a Times investigation that found the department was months and even years behind on the inspections, two leaders of the City Council's public safety committee introduced a motion ordering the LAFD to come up with a plan to catch up on the overdue inspections.
"The first responsibility of the LAFD isn't to put out the fire, it is to prevent the fire from happening in the first place," City Councilman Mitchell Englander said in a statement. "This inspection backlog puts lives across the city at risk, and the department must work to address this issue and take all steps necessary to eliminate this backlog."
Earlier Tuesday, the civilian Fire Commission voted 5 to 0 to increase the number of inspectors and reorganize the LAFD bureau responsible for ensuring the buildings meet fire-safety codes.
Under the commission's action, eight firefighters will be added to inspection duty and the department will reorganize the operation to better target the buildings judged to be most in need of inspection.
"We are a long way from where we need to be," Fire Commissioner Steven Fazio said of the missed inspections. "We're not happy about it, but we know we're on the move to get to where we want to go."
Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas, appointed last year by Mayor Eric Garcetti with a mandate to reform the LAFD, blamed the backlog on budget cuts dating back to the recession.
"This issue has been created over multiple years," Terrazas said. "It will not be fixed overnight."
Later Tuesday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in an email to The Times that he and the department are already working to improve the LAFD's inspection performance. "I want to assure Angelenos that the LAFD is working hard to prevent fires as well as put them out," Garcetti said.
He said he was "proud" that the number of fire deaths in buildings has declined to six this year from 13 at the same point in 2014.
The mayor said his administration has increased the LAFD's budget by $55 million, lifting it to an all-time high of $620 million. His office did not respond to a follow-up question of how much of the extra funding, if any, has gone toward stepping up inspections
For the latest investigations by The Times, follow @PringleLATimes and @palewire on Twitter.
UPDATES
2:07 p.m. An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the mayor's office declined a request for comment.
2:56 p.m. Minor updates
5:32 p.m. Added quote from the mayor
