The rise of firefighters-for-hire exposes the inequality of climate-driven disasters

By Doug Specht, Reader in Cultural Geography and Communication, University of Westminster

The Los Angeles wildfires have exposed a controversial practice that starkly illustrates the divide between the city’s wealthy elite and the general population. As public firefighters struggle to cope, affluent residents and businesses have turned to private firefighting services to protect their properties.

This trend has ignited a heated debate about inequality, the allocation of finite disaster defence resources, and the ethics of privatising essential emergency services. We…

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