Cal Fire official calls private firefighters 'extremely dangerous'

Across the Pacific Palisades, where the current Los Angeles wildfires began on Jan. 7, homes and buildings have been reduced to rubble, the once-bucolic neighborhood left ashen and desolate.

But standing tall among the wreckage -- almost entirely unscathed -- remains Palisades Village, the outdoor mall owned by Rick Caruso, billionaire real estate developer and former Republican mayoral candidate.

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To protect the high-end shopping center, several private water tankers, equipped with 3,000 gallons of water in each, were brought in to fend off the encroaching blaze, ABC News has reported.

"Our property is standing," Caruso told The New York Times on Wednesday. "Everything around us is gone. It is like a war zone."

Caruso did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. On Sunday, he posted on X that he was committing $5 million to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

Amid the devastation of the fires, in which thousands of Californians have lost their homes, private firefighting companies have provoked controversy and ire, a symbol of the gaping disparity between the lives of the city's wealthiest residents and those left struggling to rebuild.

The majority of private firefighters don't actually work to serve individual customers, experts told ABC News. In most cases, they're contracted by the government, aiding local firefighting crews, or by insurance companies, typically working to avert damage.

But some private firefighters offer their services to individuals, a practice that has shocked and infuriated many as its existence has entered the public eye. In 2018, so-called "concierge" firefighters saved Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Hidden Hills mansion -- along with several neighbors' homes -- during the Woolsey wildfire, according to reports at the time.

On Tuesday, real estate investor Keith Wasserman sparked widespread anger after posting to X about it.

"Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home? Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount," he wrote in a now-deleted post.

Wasserman's post inspired backlash, with users slamming the businessman as out of touch. He later deleted his account. Wasserman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Due to the private nature of these services, it's not yet clear how widespread the use of private firefighters has been in battling the Los Angeles fires. Prices are not openly listed, and can vary widely, likely costing several thousand a day, The New York Times reported.

"I'll be honest with you, we get a lot of calls in circumstances like this from private landowners who are interested in hiring some private resources to help mitigate fire risk," Deborah Miley, executive director of National Wildfire Suppression Association, an organization representing over 300 private firefighting companies, told ABC News.

Though most private firefighting companies focus solely on work for the government and insurance companies, some openly offer their services to individual customers. Allied Disaster Defense, which the Los Angeles Times reported had sent staff to fight the recent fires, has a page on its website advertising "private client services." The company offers to sign non-disclosure agreements for providing their services, which they recommend for "high-net worth individuals, and even celebrities."

Aside from public backlash, the employment of private firefighters during such serious wildfires can be "extremely dangerous," Cal Fire battalion chief David Acuña told ABC News.

"Where it becomes a problem is they don't fall under our chain of command. We don't know what personal protective equipment they have, and we don't have radio contact," Acuña said.

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Acuña said he has no problems with private firefighters working in advance to prevent fire damage -- but during a disaster like the one that's ongoing, they can get in the way of official firefighters doing their jobs.

"All of those people are folks that we are going to have to come in and rescue if they stay in the area too long, and that takes away from us being able to attack the fire," he said.

As the wildfires continue their brutal rampage, Acuña emphasized that local fire departments will remain on the ground working to battle the flames.

"We have a responsibility to the public -- not to a customer," he said.

Take a look at the latest stories and videos on the devastating Southern California wildfires here.