The West On Fire: Black Firefighters in L.A.

Firefighters have a hard job. Whether they’re putting out housefires or battling large-scale wildfires, the work can be grueling, dangerous, and thankless. Imagine having to deal with racism and bigotry on top of all that.

Los Angeles firehouses were segregated until the 1950s, and the work to overcome racism on the force continues to this day. In this episode, we meet members of the Stentorians, a fraternal organization that focuses on recruiting, training, and connecting Black firefighters, in both the city and county of Los Angeles; the team behind L.A.’s African American Firefighter Museum on South Central Avenue; and we hear about the legendary Arnett “The Rookie” Hartsfield, Jr., who helped lead the battle to integrate the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.