Living in LA, you see this scene at least once.

When I heard the sirens and saw the fire truck racing down Wilshire, I thought, "Oh no, is there a big fire?" I watched with concern, but when they arrived, there was no fire, just a homeless person lying on the street.

And next to them was an ambulance, and behind it was a fire truck. Two vehicles, one person. Just looking at the scene, it seems quite efficient(?).

At times like this, I think, "Why does that huge fire truck have to follow along?"

Fire trucks are monsters that cost money just by standing quietly, so I wonder why they bring that massive vehicle every time they check on a homeless person. It feels like a resolution of, "We have a budget we must use, so we must! use it."

But there is a reason for it. In LA, when a 911 emergency call comes in, the basic protocol is to 'assume the worst in any situation and respond.' If the caller says, "A person is lying down," it could be someone drunk, someone in cardiac arrest, or someone who has overdosed. If the ambulance goes alone and lacks medical equipment or faces danger on-site, it could be problematic. So, the fire truck serves as an emergency response 'support team + equipment vehicle.'

About half of the care for the homeless in LA is essentially handled by the fire department. When a homeless person is lying on the street, a passerby calls 911, and the report is classified as a medical, fire, or rescue emergency in the system, so both the ambulance and fire truck respond together.

I understand that the fire system is important in this city, but just as much as its importance, it also costs a lot of money.

The cost of a single fire truck is at least several hundred thousand dollars, and when you include maintenance, repairs, insurance, and parts replacement, just operating one vehicle causes money to leak out continuously. Fuel costs are an added expense. In a traffic-congested area like LA, racing with sirens is almost a marathon-level workout, and the fuel probably goes down like water.

What's scarier is that this cost is not just incurred "when responding." Even when the fire truck is standing intact in the garage, maintenance, labor costs, and facility operating costs continue to be spent. In simple terms, it's a monster that eats money just by existing.

Honestly, from the perspective of LA citizens, I have these thoughts.

"Has emergency response become a substitute service for the homeless safety net?"
"Do we really need to bring such expensive equipment for this?"
"I'm confused about whether we are supporting the fire department or social welfare with our taxes."

The routine of homeless lying down, reports coming in, fire trucks going, checking, and returning repeats. The labor costs, fuel costs, and equipment maintenance costs incurred in that process are all taken from the budget. What happens when fires break out in multiple places? There's a risk of delayed response due to equipment being spread out.

Of course, finding alternatives isn't easy.

Firefighting is emergency response, and the homeless issue is a complex social problem intertwined with mental illness, drugs, and housing difficulties. Trying to solve both problems with one system leads to overload.

So now, when I hear the sirens of a fire truck, I think this.

"Is there a fire?
Or are they going to check on someone lying down again?
Tax money is leaking out again today..."