An investor in Los Angeles, California who previously called for cutting property taxes is being mocked after crowdsourcing for private firefighting companies to come save his house.
The fiasco began early Wednesday morning when self-described entrepreneur and contrarian Keith Wasserman asked his more than 70,000 followers to help him protect his property from being destroyed.
“Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades?” he asked. “Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount. Thank you.”
Southern California is currently facing significant wildfire activity, notably in the Pacific Palisades. Severe winds and prolonged drought conditions have only exacerbated the issue, causing more than 2,900 acres to burn.
Who is Keith Wasserman?
But Wasserman’s request is being bombarded with screenshots of a post he made in September calling for property taxes to be cut. The biggest source of funding for firefighters in L.A. comes from local property taxes, collected by both the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.
Not only that, Wasserman boasted about paying no taxes at all due to his status as a “real estate baller.”
“Avoiding taxes so you can afford private firefighters whilst your neighbours burn,” one user said. “Capitalist dystopia.”
It didn’t take long for Wasserman to notice the criticism.
“So here are all the trolls! Hello trolls!” he said.
Others used the opportunity to jokingly claim to be firefighters before asking Wasserman to send them funds.
“I’m a private firefighter,” one user wrote. “Venmo in bio.”
Los Angeles’ wealthy and celebrity residents have a long history of using private firefighters during wildfire outbreaks. In 2018, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West infamously employed private firefighters to help protect their home.
Meanwhile, in less affluent communities, where firefighting services are stretched to the limit, citizens have found themselves defying evacuation orders in an effort to save their neighbors.
More than 30,000 Los Angeles residents were evacuated, while another 200,000 experienced power outages. Over 1,400 firefighters have been deployed to combat the blazes.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency and is coordinating federal assistance.
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