For members of the Los Angeles City Council, desperately looking for members who have cut in the budget crisis, the fire department’s emergency technician is the “driver” and its main role is to cause an emergency.
But LAFD officials say the position goes far beyond that. According to LAFD Interim Commissioner Ronnie Villanuueeva, emergency technicians are firefighters who play a key role in coordinating responses to fires, and the loss of them will put lives at risk.
Villanueva addressed the City Council's Budget Committee at a hearing Thursday. ” Villanueva addressed the City Council's Budget Committee at a hearing Thursday.”
The Palisade fire destroyed thousands of homes and raised questions about whether the fire department is capable of fighting such a massive fire, and the Budget Committee made a recommendation to cut emergency technician positions.
Of the 42 positions, there are currently 27 positions. According to city administration official Matt Szabo, these firefighters will not lose their jobs, but will redistribute their jobs, saving New York City more than $7 million in the next fiscal year and about $10 million a year thereafter.
The city faces a budget shortage of nearly $1 billion, largely due to rising staff costs, soaring legal spending and a slowdown in the local economy. Mayor Karen Bass' 2025-26 budget proposal recommends layoffs of more than 1,600 city employees, but does not include reallocation of emergency technicians.
The Budget Committee stressed that the entire fire department budget is increasing and also recommended that Nix Bass create a new unit plan within the department that will add 67 employees to address the issue from the homeless crisis.
At a budget hearing Thursday, Congressman Tim McOsker, who has two children who are firefighters, advocated cutting the emergency technician position, calling it “basically an assistant.”
When Villanueva asked McOsker to pay for the lives of firefighters, McOSKER said: “Priceless.”
“I can say many of the 1,300 positions we're going to cut because we're not going to do sidewalks, streets, curbs, gutters, tree pruning, light replacements to keep our community safe,” McOsker added. “The reality is that we have to balance the budget.”
The Budget Committee has sent its preliminary recommendations to the city council's top policy adviser Sharon TSO chief legislator, who will provide the committee with a comprehensive strategy Friday to cut costs while retaining as much service as possible. The Commission then expects to finalize its recommendations and send the proposed budget to the entire Council, which must approve the final budget by the end of the month.
On the way to the scene, a “command team” composed of chiefs and emergency technicians “may be responsible for rescuing trapped firefighters or civilians, firefighters tracking and handling the risk management of a rapid escalation incident,” Captain Erik Scott, a LAFD spokesman, said in a statement.
“The more complex the incident, the more urgent technicians need, and emergency response is needed,” Scott added.
Gregg Avery, who retired last year after working at LAFD for 37 years, served as battalion head, said that in his career, emergency technicians were called assistants, and then employee assistants. But Avery thinks they are companions. The four EITs working for him often helped him make strategic decisions, and he encouraged them to question his decisions and provide advice.
“EIT happens to drive the car. But calling them a driver is a bit derogatory, a little bit minimized,” he said.
Although the EIT pilot battalion commander suffered a fire or other emergencies, both are developing radios to develop strategies to resolve the situation, according to videos produced by Avery and LAFD. They communicate with fire commanders, field firefighters, police and agencies such as the Department of Water and Electricity and the U.S. Forest Service.
Villanuueva and Avery said they worked with the incident commander to track firefighters and other personnel — forgetting the location of a firefighter in a mess can be fatal, both Villanuueva and Avery said.
But at Thursday's budget hearing, Villanueva worked hard to express what EIT did when it did not respond to the scene.
“They visited the fire department and sent out an email. They talked about the current activity. If any questions are needed … EIT will help with those issues. They do have staffing.”
According to Avery, EIT is the contact between the firefighter and the battalion head. Avery said that since they are members of the firefighters themselves and the union, they can connect with ordinary documents.
During the Great Recession, EIT positions were once ruled once during another major budget tightening in 2010. The department has been adding them back ever since.
Avery remembers not having EIT jobs after the cut.
“Emergency operations are very different, not that good,” he said.
