Los Angeles's rich and famous are facing growing criticism for using private firefighters and personal fire hydrants to protect their homes against the deadly wildfires.
Elites in the city, which has been burning for six days, have spent tens of thousands preparing for such an event, spraying their homes in fire-retardant gels, building water storage facilities and keeping for-hire fire professionals on speed dial.
Companies who dispatch private firefighter crews told The Telegraph that the full packages to defend homes against wildfires cost at least $25,000 (£20,500) upwards - with an undisclosed top-tier fee for home visits during an emergency.
A two-person crew with a small vehicle can cost $3,000 (£2,500) a day, while a larger crew of 20 firefighters in four fire trucks can go up to $10,000 (£8,200) a day.
Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer and 2022 Los Angeles mayoral candidate, was seen using private fire crews to protect his shopping complex, known as the Palisades Village, from the fast-spreading blaze last week.
While fire hydrants ran dry on Wednesday, private water trucks arrived to save Mr Caruso's properties, according to the New York Times.
"Our property is standing," Mr Caruso, who has previously been commissioner for the city's Department of Water and Power, later told reporters. "Everything around us is gone. It is like a war zone," he said.
Footage later showed how his expensive shops were left perfectly intact, almost the only structures in the area untouched by the flames.
On Sunday, the LA Times reported that Mr Caruso had also called in firefighters from five different private firefighting outfits to surround his private home in Brentwood as the blaze moved nearer.
Critics called his actions "totally dystopian", while others called for an investigation to see if he used any public resources to protect his businesses.
Adam Leber, an LA talent manager, has also come under heat for using private firefighters to save his 6,000 sq ft home in the Hollywood Hills.
"My family and I are unbelievably lucky to be in the position that we're in, given what everyone else is going through," Mr Leber, whose clients include Miley Cyrus and Lil Nas X, told the San Francisco Chronicle. He said the crew held off the flames until government firefighters arrived.
Those dispatched to his house came from All Risk Shield, a Californian company that offers private wildfire prevention.
Its founder, Joe Torres, told The Telegraph that he had been inundated with calls from people desperate for his services and said his team had managed to save houses where others burned.
But their work starts long before the fire is lit. Mr Torres, who is also an active California firefighter, said: "We assess properties, identify risk, what could be done, fit gutter guards, sprinkler systems, long-term fire retardants... We're like a one-stop shop for folks."
Cost wise, the packages start at $25,000 "and go up from there". But he insists that his services are for everyone - "not the ultra-high net worth individuals, not just the celebrities, but average homeowners too".
There are also a growing number of homes that have in recent years invested in their own personal fire hydrants, which can cost from $65,000 to $150,000 to install.
The hydrants are usually connected to private tanks but can also be hooked up to the municipal water systems. LA real estate agents say they have become a major selling point in high-end homes.
However, Mr Torres said his company "does not mess around with those". Instead his company's systems are set up to use water from the homeowners' pools or spas.
Its most premium service, which he said it does not advertise and only uses in a "handful" of cases, involves sending out retired firefighters to private homes.
For Mr Leber's property for example, they carried out a "pump and go" visit, Mr Torres said, which involved "prepping the property" by getting the pool pumps out and sprinkler systems running.
The crew were also seen rigging up the sprinklers so a waterfall of water fell over the front exterior of the home.
The conspicuous presence of private fire crews during the ongoing fires has drawn sharp anger from those who say it allows only the rich to buy their way out of a disaster, heightening class divides.
But it also highlights the booming business of private firefighting that first gained widespread attention in 2018 when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West revealed they had hired a crew to save their $60 million mansion in the Hidden Hills during a wildfire.
At the time, the couple faced criticism for using their wealth to buy what should be a public service. Kardashian, however, claimed her private crew had also saved her neighbours' houses.
On Jan 7, as the fire in the affluent neighbourhood of the Pacific Palisades first broke out, Keith Wasserman, a real estate executive, faced similar backlash for offering to pay "any amount" for private firefighters to defend his mansion.
In a now-deleted post on X, he wrote: "Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home in Pacific Palisades? Need to act fast here. All neighbours' houses burning. Will pay any amount. Thank you."
"The epitome of nerve and tone deaf!" someone replied. Another questioned why he would ask firefighters to "risk their lives to save a home he most certainly has insured".
Private firefighters aren't new, they've been relied on for decades in the US, contracted by states or the federal government during big wildfire events. What is new is that contractors are hiring out their services directly to homeowners.
State and government firefighters warn that they risk getting in the way, causing damage or even accelerating a fire because the private crews are focused on saving a particular property rather than protecting entire communities.
However, the majority of private crews work for insurance companies, rather than wealthy homeowners, and most focus on fireproofing rather than actually battling flames.
David Torgerson is the founder and executive chairman of Wildfire Defense Systems, which contracts with a majority of the top 10 insurance carriers to protect clients in high-risk fire areas.
He told The Telegraph that insurance-contracted fireproofing and firefighters are a "win-win across the equation" - the cost is usually borne by the insurance provider as it helps them avoid big payouts.
Mr Torgerson's company is the third largest wildfire response operation after the federal government and the state of California.
Currently in Los Angeles, he said they have personnel "on every street, at every fire" accompanied by fire trucks and armed with fire retardants, fire-blocking gels, trimers, blowers and water tanks.
"Our mission is not to do the job of the public firefighters," he said, "but to focus on reducing economic loss." He refers to it as a "wildlife science job".
But they can only help those who have that kind of insurance. They are often powerless to enter another property, even if it burns next to one they are saving.
However, Mr Torgerson said the "big story" should not be about how individual properties are saved from fires, but whether LA, as a city, is becoming uninsurable.
The damage from the ongoing fires is expected to surpass $250 billion (£205 billion) and in recent years insurance companies have cut back on coverage in California due to wildfire risk.
"What we need to do is create neighbourhoods that can survive wildfires passing through," Mr Torgerson said. To make sure that once a fire enters the city, "it doesn't burn down like a house of cards".