Los Angeles firefighters answered a homeless or encampment fire every 30 minutes on average this year, and the toll on the department is showing.
Story Snapshot
- Los Angeles Fire Department recorded 12,241 fires classified as “Homeless or Encampment Related” from January 1 through September 20, 2026.
- That total works out to about 47 fires a day across the city.
- Skid Row and the 10 Freeway corridor are the worst hotspots, with 77 fires in one small Skid Row section alone this year.
- The 2026 number is actually down about 6% from the same period last year, but it follows years of steady growth.
What The Fire Department’s Numbers Show
Every time Los Angeles Fire Department crews put out a blaze, they file a report and mark whether it counts as homeless or encampment related. That system produced 12,241 such fires between January 1 and September 20, 2026, according to department data reported by ABC7’s 7 On Your Side investigation. Spread across 263 days, that comes out to roughly 47 fires daily, turning routine calls into a grinding, nonstop burden for crews.
The New York Post described the situation bluntly, saying Los Angeles’ homeless population is pushing firefighting resources “to the breaking point”. Most of these fires start small. Newsbytes reported that many begin as trash fires, though vegetation, vehicles, and even buildings have gone up in flames too. Small ignition sources near dense encampments can spread fast, especially in Southern California’s dry, windy conditions.
Where The Fires Are Concentrated
Skid Row and the stretch along the 10 Freeway corridor top the list of trouble spots, according to reporting on the data. One small section of Skid Row alone logged 77 fires this year. That kind of density means the same crews and engines get called back to nearly identical blocks over and over, pulling resources away from other neighborhoods that also need coverage.
This is not a new problem showing up overnight. Los Angeles Fire Department data going back to 2020 shows a steady climb in this fire category. The department logged just 7,165 such fires in 2020, then 13,909 in 2023, and a peak of 16,982 in 2025, based on figures cited by the New York Post. Viewed against that backdrop, the 2026 count of 12,241 fires marks a modest pullback rather than a sudden spike, even though the daily average still sits near 47.
A Strain That Ripples Across The City
Every homeless-related fire call pulls an engine, a crew, and equipment away from other emergencies happening at the same time. When crews respond to the same encampment blocks day after day, it wears down staffing and slows response times elsewhere in the city. Fire officials have flagged this pattern publicly, and outlets covering the story described crews as stretched thin trying to keep pace with the volume.
The classification system itself deserves a quick explanation. When Los Angeles Fire Department marks a fire as “Homeless or Encampment Related,” it can cover a wide range of causes, from cooking fires and trash burns to electrical mishaps and deliberate arson. The label tracks proximity to encampments more than it proves a single cause, but the sheer scale of the numbers still points to a real and growing burden on the department.
Firefighters stretched to breaking point after homeless people spark over 12K fires in Los Angeles https://t.co/L9rukLwQrm
Firefighters across Canada are responding to large numbers of fires in homeless encampments. Absence of safety and fire standards/enforcement creates risk.— Emergency Management Group Inc. (@EmergMgt) September 27, 2026
Los Angeles has poured billions into homelessness programs over the past decade, yet the fire numbers tell their own story about what happens when people live outdoors with open flames, propane tanks, and makeshift wiring. Firefighters did not create this crisis, but they are the ones showing up at 3 a.m. to put it out, again and again, block by block, fire by fire.
Sources:
nypost.com, abc7.com, kfiam640.iheart.com
