Wall Street is stealing from volunteer fire departments
by Inside China Business [12-28-2025].
US Private Equity firms are targeting volunteer fire departments, and the software these first responders rely on.
A handful of PE companies are snapping up affordable software providers in the emergency response space, consolidating them, then aggressively raising prices.
Most fire departments in the United States are made up of volunteers, and are budget-constrained. But Wall Street investors are enjoying huge profits, by tripling annual fees on departments, and buying and shutting down more affordable providers.
Closing scene, Hengdian, Zhejiang
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Chinese factories build fire trucks for $400,000 in six weeks. In the US it's $2 million in 4 years [4-19-2025] Note:
Wall Street firms have taken over the manufacturing industries for first-responder vehicles in the United States.
After years of consolidation and the closure of dozens of production lines, three companies control 80% of the industry.
Costs for fire trucks of all types have soared, along with delivery times. Ladder trucks, for example, jumped from $1.3 million to $2.3 million in just two years. Cities typically wait over four years to receive their rigs, after placing deposits for them.
Firms also cut back on supply of replacement parts, and as a result hundreds of trucks across the United States are out of commission, awaiting parts that do not arrive for months.
These were contributing factors in the Pacific Palisades fires, which ravaged Los Angeles and caused over $52 billion in damages.