While California Fires Rage, the Rich Hire Private Firefighters

LOS ANGELES — You can now add firefighting to the list of the ways that the wealthy are different from the rest of the world.

The rich aren’t fighting their own fires, for the most part. But they are hiring private firms to supplement the firefighters provided by state and local governments.

These teams, depending on who you ask, are either part of the dystopian systemic inequality in fire-ravaged California or are offering an extra, necessary service beyond what public agencies can provide.