Los Angeles, Jan 14 (IANS): As multiple wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles, a growing controversy has emerged surrounding the hiring of private firefighters by affluent residents.

About 45 per cent of all firefighters working in the United States today are employed privately, according to Deborah Miley, Executive Director of the National Wildfire Suppression Association, which represents more than 300 private firefighting groups.

"A two-person private firefighting crew with a small vehicle can cost 3,000 US dollars a day, while a larger crew of 20 firefighters in four fire trucks can run to 10,000 dollars a day," Bryan Wheelock, Vice President of Grayback Forestry, a private firefighting company in Oregon, told The New York Times.

But as these companies rack up cash, the ones who hire them are taking heat from ordinary folk -- more than 100,000 of whom have been forced to flee, leaving their houses under the protection of the overwhelmed public fire department, Xinhua news agency reported.

Private firefighting units have been a controversial topic in recent years, becoming a symbol of access for the wealthy and drawing criticism for heightening class divides during disasters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Access to water -- in particular, whether private firefighters should be able to tap public hydrants during a wildfire -- is another consideration, and has been a recurrent concern among critics of private firefighting, reported The New York Times.

"When we see groups like this come in, we don't consider them an asset -- we consider them a liability," said Brian Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, which represents 35,000 firefighters.